Tales of the Wanderer: Book 1: Wandering Moon
by Star Ranger
Summary: A new enemy, and a new ally mark the start of a Wanderer's Journey
1. Prolouge

Typical Header Stuff: 

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all characters contained within this work are the copyright of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Kodansya and probably lots of other big people I'm forgetting. I am using them without permission, but suing me because of it would be futile as I have nothing. Also Certain characters mentioned here are the copyrighted property of John De Chance. Any characters that are not copyrighted by other people are my own creation, and therefore copyrighted by myself... which means that if for some REALLY weird reason you decided you wanted to use them, (and why would you decide that?!?!?!?) you need to write me for permission. 

Comments, Criticisms, and flames welcome... Starrngr@aol.com However, due to a large amount of spam I have received in the past, I have blocked off mail from some domains. Sorry if your one of them. And don't expect me to reply to mail that's nothing but Flames! 

See the Character Bio for information on key people to this Fic.... 

The Wanderer:Wandering Moons: Prologue 

"Look Out!!" Star Ranger dropped top the floor and the energy blast passed harmlessly over his head and impacted into a control panel, demolishing it. All over the room electronic equipment went haywire, over it all the climbing note of a turbine building to maximum output. 

"Jedi! Get out of here, its going to blow!!" 

"But what about you?" 

"I've got to try and shut that thing down." 

"But ..." 

"NO! If I fail you'll have to take command of the Ultras. Now get going, before its to late!!!" 

The slender woman in gray gave her companion a worried look before nodding in agreement and running for the door. Star Ranger picked himself up off the floor and dove behind the damaged control console, energy blasts continuing to slam into the machine behind his place of cover. 

"Damn you to hell you metallic menace! You've ruined everything!! I'll kill you for this!!", raged the Tinkerer, as he blazed away with an energy weapon in Star Ranger's general direction. 

"Tinkerer! There is no time for this now, if we don't stop this thing we will both die!", Star Ranger reasoned with the megalomaniac, desperately stalling for time. 

"I don't care as long as you die TOO!!", raged Tinkerer. Star Ranger realized that if Tinkerer didn't care if he died or not, Star Ranger was out of options. He steeped from the cover of the console and opened fire on the demented inventor. 

>>SHOCKWAVE LAUNCHER ARMED... Firing<<

The telekinetic charge slammed out of the left forearm pod and struck the Tinkerer squarely, throwing him across the room, where he slumped unconscious. Star Ranger to the malfunctioning machine, trying to find a weak point to disable it with, when suddenly everything went white, and he knew it was too Late.... 

* * * * * * * 

Sailor Pluto eyed the curry pot with mixed emotions. She was certain that she had followed the recipe Neo-Queen Serenity had given her exactly, but this didn't LOOK like it had come out right! She lifted the spoon to her lips to give it a taste when she felt the time ripple. Dinner forgotten, the time Key appeared in her grasp, and she instantly conveyed herself to the time gate. She gazed across the time stream, and saw the ripple spreading along the time stream, leaving a radically different world behind it. 

A white flash and a chime emanated from behind her. She knew who had appeared without even turning to look. "I was just about to call you. I need you to watch the..." 

"No, Setsuna. The continuum sent me here to fix this. Just watch for a moment." Pluto turned her attention back to the time stream again for a moment. Q gestured, and the timeline rippled again slightly... and the picture that formed was even worse than before. She looked at Q, and noticed that he looked quite the worst for wear. His thinning hair was all askew, and his clothing was wrinkled, and damaged from some sort of heat burns. 

"Yes, Setsuna. If you try and fix this, you will die. And if you die, this evil will explode out of your time and across many dimensions, and ultimately threaten even the Continuum. Therefore, they have sent me here to fix it, with specific instructions on exactly what to do." 

"You, Q? You know how Q feels about your level of maturity." 

"Well, it seems that Q also feels that I am responsible for this happening. As part of the penance enforced upon myself by the other Q, and at your urging, I might add, I was assigned to monitor some backwards dimension for a time with even stricter limits on my powers than usual. Unfortunately, it appears that stopping one event there caused this, so I have been ordered by the rest of the continuum to fix it." 

"And how do you intend to do that?" 

"I have orders, but they don't make sense at the moment. Show me the heart of this ripple, Setsuna." 

Pluto reached out with her time staff and their view of the time stream zoomed in on a certain point. As they watched, a white portal appeared in a Tokyo alleyway, and a man flew from it, badly burned along his right side, and landed on the busy sidewalk, shocking the people as the portal collapsed. 

"I see," mused Q. "I assumed he died in that blast. Which means the other must have survived as well. I need to see the whole stream again, please." Pluto gestured with the time staff again, and the whole time stream spread out before them. Q reached forward, and touched the time stream. A white spark flew from his finger and created another ripple, which quickly spread across the time stream. Pluto looked at the new time stream and was satisfied. It wasn't exactly the same, but what few changes still remained were for the better. She looked back over a Q and noted that he was his normal dapper self. 

"I'm waiting for an explanation, Q. Don't make me ask Q for it. You know how he feels about you." 

Q sighed. "I stopped an explosion in that backwards dimension. There were two people caught in it, and when I contained the explosion, it created a dimensional rift. One of them came here, and you saw what would have resulted. The other has been jumping from dimension to dimension, trying to get home, so I arranged to bring him here to stop your contaminant. He has stopped this one before, and can do it again." 

"Anything else, Q?" Pluto asked with an arched eyebrow. Q just grinned back at her. 

"Yes, but I can pass those instructions along after dinner. Serenity's curry, I do believe?" 

"I don't think it came out right." 

"Oh, it did. It's SUPPOSED to look like that. I'm told it tastes much better than it looks. Trust me, mon cher." 

"Not if I have any choice in the matter." 

* * * * * * * * * 

The Tinkerer slowly became aware of the world around him. He heard voices, speaking a language he did not recognize. He opened his eyes and examined his surroundings. He lay in what appeared to be a standard hospital room, though it had no window. Several softly beeping pieces of medial equipment were attached to various parts of his aching body. He felt like he had died, or at least should have, but what use would an afterlife have for medical equipment? Ergo, he must be alive, which meant that insufferable Star Ranger had ruined his plans. AGAIN. This was, no doubt, some sort of prison hospital, meant to get him well enough to stand trial for his offenses. Which meant that he would have to be careful of what he said, as there probably were microphones hidden all over the room to record anything he said for use at his trial. Tinkerer feigned unconsciousness as a nurse of some kind came in and checked his pulse. He peeked out from under half an eyelid, and saw the nurse looking at him like he wasn't fooling anyone. She said something to him in a language that wasn't English, and seemed rather surprised that he didn't understand her. Not that Tinkerer would have admitted understanding her if he had, but this defiantly was NOT a language that he knew. After a moment, the nurse left, and Tinkerer relaxed and tried to decide what his next move should be. 

"Good Morning, sir. I am glad to see you are awake. How do you feel?" Tinkerer started for a moment, and looked at the person who had entered the room. She stood about 5'2", with a slender yet quite womanly figure that created an ageless attraction. Her hair was tinted a light blue that went well with her steel gray eyes. From the white lab coat over a tasteful suit, he decided that she was his doctor. Fleetingly , the thought crossed his mind that he wished she had been his family doctor when he was a child. Was this something else to trick him with? 

"Please sir. We know you speak English, you have been muttering in it for the past week. We need to be able to communicate if we are to treat you effectively." Trap or not, Tinkerer knew that she had him there. 

"Yes, I speak English," He admitted. "And I feel like I've been run over by a truck. Where am I?" 

"You are in the Juuban District General Hospital, and I am your Doctor, Dr. Mizuno." 

"Juuban District? Where am I?!?!?" 

"This is most interesting. Juuban District is part of Tokyo, Japan. Do you remember anything before you came here?" 

'Here it comes,' thought Tinkerer. 'This is where they try and get me to entrap myself!' His only option seemed to be to tell the truth, just not any incriminating parts of it. "My last clear memories are of my being in the United States. Los Angeles, California, to be exact." 

"And you have no memories of how you came to be in Japan?" 

"Not really, No." 

"This presents an interesting problem then. In an attempt to find out who you were, we gave a set of your fingerprints to the American Embassy. The United States government has no record of your fingerprints. According to them, you don't exist. Maybe we will have more luck now that your awake and can give us your name." 

Tinkerer blushed and mumbled something. Dr. Mizuno gave him a strange look. "I didn't hear you. And we can't do much with the embassy unless we can give them a name." 

Tinkerer knew he was in trouble, but still he answered truthfully, in a small weak voice. "James Doe." 

"Oh Dear." 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Micheal Thunders, A.K.A. "Star Ranger", took one more walk around his new traveling companion. On the outside, it looked like a HMMWV, or Hummer, that was the vehicle of choice of the military of his home. Inside, all similarities ended, for this vehicle was packed to the gills with very special electronic equipment. Equipment he hoped would eventually get him home. 'Quit stalling,' he told himself. 'If you ever want to get home, you have to do this.' Sighing, he turned to the group that had gathered to see him off. 

"I can't thank you enough for all your help, Lord Incaradine. Your home here is pleasant enough, but its not where I belong." 

"I know. It is startling that you are not part of one of the 144,000 realms that Castle Perilous opens upon. Yet, every time I think that nothing else will happen that would surprise me, something does. And this was little enough in way of thanks for your help in this last crisis. I only wish I could do more." 

Micheal turned to the others who had gathered to see him off. "Gene, Linda, Snowclaw. Without you three I think I would have gone bonkers when I first arrived here. I also doubt that I could have saved the day without your help. I will miss you all." 

Gene and Snowclaw just shifted uncomfortably. It was Linda that answered for them. "We'll all miss you too. We all chose to make Perilous our home. You didn't. Good Luck, and God-speed, Micheal." 

Micheal looked around for a moment more, then decided that he would ask anyway. "Where is Jeremy? I though for sure he would be here." 

It was Gene who answered. "Isis decided that he needed a bit of fresh air and exercise after all the work you two did on building your new ride. So she got Thaxton and Dalton to drag him off to the golf course with instructions to make sure he played a full round before coming back to the lab. Personally, I think she wanted to tinker with her programming without him underfoot for a bit." 

Micheal Grinned at the mention of that. "She IS one opinionated program, isn't she. I'm still not sure about using her as the basis for my operating system. But we couldn't have done it otherwise." 

Snowclaw finally spoke up. "Why here? Why aren't we in the lab?" 

"He has to be able to accelerate to a certain speed," Linda answered for Micheal. 

"Why?" "There isn't enough power to hold this sort of portal very long. If he isn't moving fast enough, it will collapse before he is through." 

"Don't get your hopes up to high. Remember that it may take several 'jumps' to find anything even close to the dimension you came from. And it may take a while to determine the settings between jumps. Your breaking new territory here," Lord Incaradine reminded Micheal. 

Micheal Nodded. "Then I guess I should stop saying goodbye and get moving then." He opened the door and climbed inside. "Farewell, my friends." He turned his attention to his new 'car'. "Wake up FRED." 

"Good Morning, Muck. All systems operational. So, this is it, huh?" 

"Yes, it is, FRED. Begin Portal procedures." 

"Roger that, Muck. Fusion reactor to 100%. Portal Generator On-line. Co-ordinates locked in. All systems ready for portal operation." 

Micheal waved through the window at the friends he was leaving behind. 'Still, I have to do this if I ever want to get home.' He pressed down on the accelerator and the vehicle accelerated down the hill. As advertised, when he hit 88 MPH the portal formed and he shot through to another dimension. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Cabelite scowled as he paced his office and awaited his summons to appear before Queen Beryl. He had no doubt that this delay was meant to inspire terror, but it was just making him angry. 'She is being unrealistic. No military campaign is without setbacks. Our intelligence didn't know the earth mages were so powerful. I could have over come them if she would have given me another chance.' Still, he HAD been removed from command of the attack because of his setbacks. And he knew as well as any the way Beryl punished those she felt had failed her. He just wished she would stop toying with him and get it over with. 

He turned as he felt the portal open. 'This is not what I expected,' he thought to himself. He could see through this portal, yet it was like looking into a mirror. Both were about six foot in height a dark olive complexion, black wavy hair and dark brown eyes. There the similarity ended, for in place of Cabelite's uniform, this person wore a one piece gray jumpsuit, a strange metallic framework covering and supporting the right side of his body. Behind the stranger was a room that was obviously not part of the Negaverse, full of some strange sort of machinery. 

"Come with me, if you want to live," the stranger said, reaching out his metal framed arm to him. 

"Why should I?" asked Cabelite, instantly suspecting some sort of trick to further humiliate him. 

"Because if you stay here, you will die. I offer you a chance to finish what you have started, without your queen's interference. In fact, I can give you the chance to become what she desires to be, ruler of this planet. But only if you come with me." 

Trick or not, Cabelite knew a chance when he heard one. And he had not risen to the rank of General by not capitalizing on every chance he had. "I'll need my troops, stranger." 

"Call me Tinkerer. And we will gather them as soon as you step through the portal. If I keep it here much longer someone will investigate." 

Cabelite stepped through the portal and it disappeared behind him, just as a dozen Youma appeared to investigate the disturbance and stop him in case he was trying to escape. They looked about the empty office in confusion, unable to detect where Cabelite had gone, and fearing what would happen when they reported him missing. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

After five jumps, it had become a tradition. Even if he was the only one who knew it. Micheal walked around FRED, looking for anything amiss. Not that anything ever was. He looked down the canyon he had chosen. It was one of the few in the immediate area that had enough straight level area for the run up to portal speed. He still had needed to do some work to smooth out the surface enough that the vibrations wouldn't shake he or FRED apart. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough room to abort if something went wrong. He didn't really like it, but there wasn't really any choice. He turned to the handful of people who had come to see him off. Again. 

"Headsman, I thank you for the hospitality of your people. I wish you would change your mind about..." 

Azidbal, the headman of the Mujadeen silenced him with an upraised hand. "No, Steelheart. It is as the prophecy foretold. The Star Shield and Sword are not of this world. Someone would come to claim them and take them from this place, ending the constant warfare to posses them. That person is you, Steelheart. It is written thus, and I will speak no more about it." 

Micheal sighed to himself. He had seen this coming, but he knew he had to have made the effort. "As Mujal commands, Azidbal. May Mujal guide your steps always, my friends." 

"And may he bring you safely to your journey's end, Steelheart," Azidbal concluded the parting rite. Micheal grimaced inwardly at that. 'Not very likely. If he guided my footsteps, I would be home now.' 

Micheal climbed into FRED and closed the door behind him. "Portal Procedures FRED. Maybe this one will be the one, Hmm?" 

"Well, its not my fault the reading never seem to match exactly. All systems operational. Ready for run-up to portal speed." 

Micheal nodded and FRED hurtled down the canyon, picking up speed. As they accelerated past seventy, a feeling of doom enveloped him even before the warning light appeared. 

"Co-ordinate Failure!! Somehow the co-ords to the portal just changed!!" warned FRED. 

"And no room to stop." Reminded Micheal, as FRED continued to accelerate. 

"Damn", they swore as one as they reached portal speed and disappeared into a new dimension not of their choosing.... 


	2. Enter the Wanderer

Typical Header Stuff: 

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all characters contained within this work are the copyright of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Kodansya and probably lots of other big people I'm forgetting. I am using them without permission, but suing me because of it would be futile as I have nothing. Also Certain characters mentioned here are the copyrighted property of John De Chance. Any characters that are not copyrighted by other people are my own creation, and therefore copyrighted by myself... which means that if for some REALLY weird reason you decided you wanted to use them, (and why would you decide that?!?!?!?) you need to write me for permission. 

Comments, Criticisms, and flames welcome... Starrngr@aol.com However, due to a large amount of spam I have received in the past, I have blocked off mail from some domains. Sorry if your one of them. And don't expect me to reply to mail that's nothing but Flames! 

See the Character Bio for information on key people to this Fic.... 

The Wanderer: Wandering Moon: Episode ONE: Enter the Wanderer 

"Co-ordinate Failure!! Somehow the co-ords to the portal just changed!!" warned FRED. 

"And no room to stop," reminded Micheal as FRED continued to accelerate. 

"Damn", they swore as one as they reached portal speed and disappeared into a new dimension not of their choosing.... 

As the flash of portal penetration cleared, Micheal saw the hand of approaching doom, in the form of a very LARGE truck of some form heading straight for them. Micheal hauled the wheel to the right just as he realized that the wheel was turning by itself... to the LEFT. The black HMMWV swerved out of the way of the incoming truck, across an unpaved divider, and slid neatly into the traffic on the left side of the road. 

"Sheesh FRED, if you wanted to drive so badly, why didn't you say so?" Micheal quipped. Somehow though, the joke just didn't sound right, what with the small weak voice Micheal said it in. 'Definitely NOT home... traffic is on the wrong side of the road...' Micheal paused for a moment and focused on a few mental exercises to calm himself. "Well, FRED, off hand I'd say we are NOT home. Any ideas on where we are?" 

"Hang on, Muck, I'm looking in to that right now.... OK, we are on earth, near the outskirts of Tokyo, Japan, based on analysis of EM transmissions. Picking up GPS signals, radio and television band transmissions. Hey, your in luck! Listen..." Suddenly music filled FRED's interior. Music that was popular in the fifties and sixties in his home universe. 

"That's not a contemporary station, is it??" asked Micheal. 

"Nope. Armed Forces Radio. The other stations are in Japanese. Overall technological level seems to be slightly less than what you described as home. Cellular phone transmissions detected, but the quality is to low for wireless modem use. Now THIS is weird...." 

"What is, FRED?" 

"A message beacon. On our private channel. Either we have a temporal paradox, or someone is expecting us." 

"Are you saying a future us will be in this dimension in their past?" 

"Either that, or someone knew we were coming. Either guess requires access to facts not yet in evidence." 

"What's in the message beacon?" 

"Just a set of geographic co-ordinates. No way of knowing what we'll there." 

"Then we will just have to find out, won't we, FRED?" 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Cabelite grimaced with disgust as he entered Tinkerer's domain. 'What is with this fool's reliance on machines?' he wondered. 'They do nothing that applied magic could not do better.' Aloud, he spoke, "What is so important that you would drag me away from planning our assault? We must start gathering energy soon or my Youma will be worthless." 

"This," replied Tinkerer as he pointed to a monitor. Cabelite looked at what Tinkerer indicated, but the symbols Tinkerer used made no sense to the Negaverse general. 

"And what exactly does it mean?" Cabelite was quite irritated by this time. 

"This is the signature of a dimensional portal. And no, its not one of mine. I don't really know what to make of it. It may be nothing, or it could mean trouble." 

"Trouble in what way, cripple?" 

Tinkerer spun in his chair and stared at Cabelite. "Trouble as in people who have the knowledge and power to open such a portal could be as much a threat to us as the ones I brought you here to fight. And don't forget that _I_ brought you here, Cabelite. Remember that always. If it was not for me you would be nothing but free atoms in your precious 'Negaverse'. Without me you would be Dead now." 

'No, I will not forget this, _cripple_,' Cabelite fumed as he left the laboratory. 'And when these 'Sailor Scouts' lay dead at my feet, you will be next.' 

* * * * * * * * * * 

"Well, What did you find?" Asked FRED, as Micheal climbed back behind the wheel. 

"An envelope, hidden in a tree. Inside was some local currency, a credit card, a bank card, an American passport, a work visa, and this," replied Micheal, pulling out a CD. He inserted the disk into FRED's reader slot. He waited in silence for FRED to tell him the contents of the mystery disk. 

"Oh boy. This reeks of serious cheddar, Muck. This disk has translation software, street maps for my database, copies of a couple of recent ads, and account information for a computer access account. Whoever set up the beacon and planted that envelope knew just what we would need to fit in around here. The ads are only two days old." 

"What are the Ads for?" 

"One lists an apartment vacancy, and the other is for a teaching position at a local school." 

"Well, now we know what happened. Somehow, someone re-directed the portal to bring us here." Micheal mused out loud. "Whoever it is also made sure we would blend in. They must expect us to do something for them." 

"Ok, but WHO is it, and what is it they want us to do?" 

"That's the sixty four thousand dollar question, FRED." 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Darien Chiba smiled to himself as he closed the door behind him and tossed his jacket on the couch. He had just gotten back from a date with Serena, and wasn't quite in the mood for homework at the moment. 'Everything is as it should be,' he thought to himself. 'All the powers of the Negaverse nor my own loss of memory could keep us apart. And now with Ann and Alan gone, we can finally have our happily ever after.' He wandered out on the balcony where he could look at the lights of Tokyo. He had just settled against the rail of the balcony when he became aware of a commotion on the balcony of the next door apartment. The door to the balcony was suddenly thrown open and a wave of smoke swirled out. Darien couldn't help but grin to himself, 'Looks like I've found someone more disastrous in the kitchen than Serena!' A pair of male voices could almost be heard from the other apartment. Darien listened for a moment, and realized that he couldn't really hear what was being said, other than the two were talking in English, rather than Japanese. 'So, it looks like Mr. Tomota finally got someone to rent the place. I wonder what these Americans are like.' 

After a moment the conversation stopped abruptly and one of his new neighbors emerged onto the balcony, carrying a microwave meal and a can of soda. Darien gave his new neighbor the once over as he sat down. The neighbor was actually average height, about 5'7, rather than the six foot or more of many gaijin. His physique reminded Darien of an athlete, and at the moment his neighbor was wearing a dark T-shirt with an American warplane on it and a pair of gray sweatpants. His hair was a fiery red that reminded Darien of Serena's sensei Ms. Haruna. Green eyes shone between the short red hair combed straight back and a rather bushy red mustache. He looked up and caught Darien looking over at him. 

"Oh! Hello," The stranger spoke in acceptable, if slightly accented, Japanese. "Hope my little kitchen disaster didn't disturb you!" 

"Not at all," chuckled Darien in reply. "It has to be the most interesting way I know of to meet ones new neighbors!" 

"It most certainly beats ducking bombs," was the dry reply. Micheal looked at Darien's expression and knew he was going to have to come up with an explanation. He was just glad he had had FRED raid the newspaper archives so he knew what the local history was. "I was a pilot for the United States during the Gulf War. I 'd say we learned more from the hours spent with the Saudi's in the shelters during the SCUD raids than during the all lessons about their culture before we left." 

"And what brings you to Tokyo? Its not exactly where I would expect to find a fighter pilot." 

"I'm not anymore. After the war, I saw the carnage my bombs caused. After that, I lost what we called the edge. So I resigned. Made a bundle in business, and now I am sort of wandering, a soul quest, you might say." 'Just enough truth to be convincing.' Micheal Noted to himself. 

"I don't know if you'll find much help here. I know someone who might help, but many people are still very uncomfortable around gaijin," observed Darien. 

(Gaijin - Japaneese term for forigner / outsider) 

"I know. Your not though," observed Micheal. 

"I've had a few broadening experiences," replied Darien dryly. 'After being brainwashed and living in the Negaverse, no mere human could ever be a gaijin to me!' "I'm Darien Chiba." 

"Micheal Thunders. Nice to meet someone who can forget fifty years ago." 

"Welcome to Tokyo, Micheal. What exactly happened in there, anyway? I see the smoke has stopped." 

"I plugged in my coffeepot. However, FRED, BAKA that he is, didn't remind me about the difference in the electrical supply. I'm afraid its perked its last pot." Micheal looked decidedly unhappy about this fact. 

"FRED is your roommate, ne? I would have thought he would be out here with you, avoiding the smoke." 

'URK! of all the bonehead stunts to pull!' cursed Micheal to himself. 'I hope my cover story holds up.' "FRED isn't exactly my roommate." 

"Oh! I didn't figure you for one of _them_." 

"One of _them_?? No, that's not it at all. FRED is, well, FRED. Damn, the only real way to explain this is to introduce you to him. Come on over for a moment, OK?" 

The scent of smoke was still faintly present in the apartment when Micheal let Darien in. Micheal lead Darien over to a desk covered with electronic equipment. Darien barely managed to hold in a gasp as a video camera swiveled to point at him. 

Micheal indicated the desk. "Darien Chiba, FRED. FRED, Darien Chiba, our next door neighbor. He heard you after I had to open up the balcony to let the smoke out." /Which wouldn't have happened if SOMEONE had reminded me about the differences in electrical current before I plugged in the coffeepot,/ he concluded in English. 

/What exactly _IS_ FRED?/ inquired Darien in English, which was about the most tactful way he could find to tell Micheal that he could understand what Micheal was saying quite well. 

"I am honored to meet you, Neighbor Darien Chiba," replied FRED in perfect Japanese. "FRED stands for Fantastically Ridiculous Electronic Device. Micheal has a very warped sense of humor. Basically, I am the result of an over active mind with WAAAAAAAY to much time on his hands." 

Micheal looked over at Darien, who was just sort of staring at FRED. "He's a prototype, the next step in AI development. I'm not sure the general public is ready for it. Another reason for my 'quest', you might say. The fact that I built a companion rather than meeting people was the cause for a bit of soul searching." 'I hope he buys this. I don't know what to do if he doesn't. I doubt he could accept the whole truth.' 

"Absolutely Amazing..." was the best that Darien could come up with. 'I wonder if I can introduce him to Amy sometime. This sort of thing is right up her alley.' "I know a friend who would be fascinated to meet the two of you." 

"Uh, I would prefer if you didn't say anything about FRED to anyone, Darien. A lot of people don't react well to the thought of AI. They think its going to run amuck and kill everything in sight. Like the evil computer in the Terminator movie, you know?" 

"Oh. I can understand that. I could guarantee my friend wouldn't react like that though." Darien shrugged, but made a mental note to ask again sometime for Amy's benefit. 

"I'll think about it. In the meantime, please don't say anything to anyone about FRED here, OK? The only reason I told you was cause I opened my mouth and stuck my foot in it." 

"OK, I promise. So, how long do you plan to be staying in Tokyo?" 

"It's hard to say," Replied Micheal. "A couple of months at least. It depends on a great many things." 'Like how fast FRED can get readings on the multiverse and compute new co-ordinates! I'm not sure I want to hang around and be someone's puppet. But I'm not going to make a blind jump either!' 

"Any plans? I mean, you must have a reason for coming here." Inquired Darien. 

"It's hard to say. I'm sort of going to go with the flow for a while. Even managed to finagle a work visa and a job." 

"Those are hard to come by. I guess you do intend to stay for a while then. What kind of job?" 

"I'm a teacher at Juuban Junior High school." answered Micheal, causing Darien to break out lauging, and leaving Micheal wondering what it was he said that was so incredibly funny.... 

* * * * * * * * * * 

"IIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! Not _AGAIN_?!?!?!?" Micheal paused for a moment at the door to the school office. Someone inside obviously had just received some bad news. 'I just hope it doesn't involve me,' he concluded to himself and proceeded into the office. Inside, a very attractive teacher was complaining to someone about one of her students. 

"Why me again? I had her last year! Let someone else take the problem student this year!" protested Patricia Haruna to a rather unsympathetic clerk. "She's always late, she doesn't study, and she falls asleep in class! Why do I have to be the one saddled with her?" 

"Because," replied the clerk, "Your the only instructor who can get her to do anything. In fact, except for one other instructor, they all threatened mass resignation if we put her in their classes. Unless you want to find another job, your stuck with her." 

Ms. Haruna sighed heavily. "Who are the other unfortunate souls?" she inquired. Micheal surmised that whoever this student was, she was well known to the other instructors at the school. 

"One of the gym coaches actually volunteered to take her. Said she made the rest of the class look positively gifted. Fortunately for you, you only have her in the morning periods. After lunch we have placed her with the new science teacher." When the clerk imparted this news, Ms. Haruna visibly relaxed. 

"Who would be me, I presume." Micheal couldn't help a sudden, correct, feeling of dread. "Micheal Thunders, instructor of math's and sciences. And you are?" 

"Patricia Haruna. Instructor of History, composition, and the English language." 'Hey, he's cute!!! I almost feel sorry for him!' she thought as she looked him over. 'Although I'm not to sure about his taste in clothes.' Micheal was wearing black slacks and a tropical print shirt under a long black overcoat. 'All he needs is the right hat and he would look like a tropical cowboy!' "Your obviously not from around here, are you? Red Hair of our shade isn't exactly common." 

"No, I'm not. Yes, it is, but I wont embarrass you by asking you where you got yours if you'll tell me about this student everyone else seems to know about," replied Micheal as he signed some forms the clerk handed him and picked up his attendance sheets. 

"Her name is Serena Tsukino, and if I were to take the time to tell you all about her, we would be late for class. When is your open period?" 

"You both have fifth period open. That's the one right after lunch, Thunders-san," provided the Clerk. "And as the first bell is about to ring, I suggest you get moving, unless you want to be as late as your pet student, Haruna-san. You're in room 215, Thunders-san." 

"That's right next to mine. I'll show you where it is, and I can show you around the rest of the school during lunch. You might even get a glimpse of your new 'prize' student," commented Patricia as she grabbed Micheal by the arm and lead him out of the office. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Serena was moving at her usual pace, which many claimed was just short of the speed of sound. 'Why me?' she wailed to her self. 'Why did my gym locker have to stick closed like that? I'm going to be late to class!!' Which, of course, meant that she was NOT looking where she was going. Which, one might suppose made the collision inevitable. All Micheal really knew was that one second he was almost to the classroom door with the hand-outs he had finished copying and the next he was sitting on the floor in a blizzard of falling paper. 

Serena, true to form, was almost instantly on her feet, apologizing just as fast as her mouth could move. Micheal looked at the young girl who ran him down and knew who she was as soon as he saw the distinctive hair style Ms. Haruna had described to him. "Ms. Tsukino, I presume. I do believe there is a school policy about running in the halls?" 

"Yes, and I'm so sorry! Its just that my gym locker jammed and it took forever to get it open and now I'm so incredibly late for my next class..." 

Micheal cut the young girl off. "Ms. Tsukino. I would greatly prefer help in gathering these papers than an apology." 

Serena just nodded and instantly fell to helping gather up the wayward papers. As she did, she looked over her latest victim. 'Rather kawaii for a teacher, but he's no Darien.' "I still am so sorry about this, sir. I was trying to get to class on time and make a good impression on my science teacher." 

Micheal could only grin as he realized that this girl did not realize that he was her new teacher. "Oh, somehow I _DON'T_ think you have to worry about that," was his comment as he gathered up a last errant paper and stood up, collecting the papers Serena had gathered, and opening the door to the classroom. 

Serena was glad to see that her friend, Lita Kino, had managed to save her a seat near the back of the classroom. As she sat down, she realized that the person whom she had run into in the hall was sitting down at the teachers desk and preparing to check the attendance roster. 'OH NO!!! He's not _A_ new teacher, he's _MY_ new teacher! He probably thinks I'm a total space case now!!!' As that thought rolled through Serena's head, she sunk down lower in her seat. 'I'm a total baka odango atama!!!' 

"You OK, Serena?" asked an increasingly worried Lita. 

Serena shook her head no and wondered if it was possible to crawl under one of the Lab tables and die of shame... 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Micheal sat on his balcony and brooded as he sipped his coffee and looked out across a darkening Tokyo. FRED had just informed him that there was something disturbing the quantum flux of this universe. And until it resolved itself, they were stuck, because there was no way to open a stable portal. Which meant that they were probably going to have to deal with whatever it was the force that brought them here intended them to deal with. And that thought lead him to wonder what he was going to do about Serena Tsukino. 

On the surface of things, she was everything Patricia complained of that first day of school. 'I wonder how much TV she watches. She behaves just the way Blondes are portrayed on TV.' However, having her in his classes all afternoon had shown glimpses of something more below the surface. 'I need to find a way to test her for a learning disability without suggesting she's stupid. Lord knows her ego is fragile enough. Look at the way she reacted that first day when she bumped into me. Maybe if I pair her up with Amy Mizuno for some tutoring. Might help the both of them.' 

With that, his mind turned to what he considered his other student problem. Amy Mizuno and Serena Tsukino were as different as night and day. Where Serena was outgoing and personable, Amy was shy and introverted. According to the school records, she scored a 300 on her last IQ test. Attentive and intelligent, she seemed driven by something. Micheal worried about the fact he had overheard her mention to someone that she was only five chapters ahead of the assignments. And she was in his ADVANCED physics class! 'Your being silly,' he told himself. 'This is NOT your dimension. Just because she is hyper-intelligent does not mean she is going to become some obsessed maniac trying to take over the world to fill a gap in her emotional make-up. Still, getting her to loosen up just a hair probably wouldn't hurt either.' 

* * * * * * * * * * 

'Ooooh, I could stay like this for DAYS!' decided Serena as she cuddled up next to Darien in the elevator. She was feeling guilty, because their time that afternoon had been cut into because she had drawn detention again. Unfortunately, Darien had to work tonight, so there wasn't a chance to make up for it. Then an idea hit her. "Darien, since it was my fault I was late, let me make dinner for you tonight? That way you won't have to rush to get to work!" 

"I don't know Serena. I mean, its a lovely offer but I don't think we have time." 'Not to mention the fact that my kitchen may not recover!' Darien concluded to himself. 

"Nonsense! It will be great! Just you wait and see!" bubbled an enthusiastic Serena as she grabbed his arm and drug him down the hall towards his apartment. "Trust me," she said over her shoulder to Darien, which meant she didn't see Darien's new next door neighbor coming out of his apartment, and ran right into him. Her apology died on her lips as she saw who it was. 'KAMI-SAMA!!! Its Thunders-Sensei!!!' 

'WHY ME???' was clearly written in Micheal's expression. "Good evening Ms. Tsukino. Can I assume that since your spending time with your boyfriend that all your homework is done for once?" 

The look on Serena's face all but screamed that she hadn't even started it. "Oh, umm, yes, of course it is." Which might have even sounded believable if it wasn't for the tiny voice she said it in and the giant sweat-drop on her head. Suddenly she gave him a double take. "Hey, how did you know this is my boyfriend?" 

"Because most people don't drag complete strangers down the hall telling them they're going to cook for them," Micheal observed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm late." As Micheal started down the hall, he couldn't help but comment over his shoulder, "Don't forget Ms. Tsukino. ALL of your homework. MONDAY." 

Serena hung her head in defeat and sighed. "And Luna wonders why I hate Mondays so much." 

To be continued....... 


	3. Plans in Motion

Typical Header Stuff: 

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all characters contained within this work are the copyright of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Kodansya and probably lots of other big people I'm forgetting. I am using them without permission, but suing me because of it would be futile as I have nothing. Any characters that are not copyrighted by other people are my own creation, and therefore copyrighted by myself... which means that if for some REALLY weird reason you decided you wanted to use them, (and why would you decide that?!?!?!?) you need to write me for permission. 

Comments, Criticisms, and flames welcome... Starrngr@aol.com However, due to a large amount of spam I have received in the past, I have blocked off mail from some domains. Sorry if your one of them. And don't expect me to reply to mail that's nothing but Flames! 

See the Character Bio for information on key people to this Fic.... 

The Wanderer: Wandering Moon: Episode TWO: Plans in Motion 

Cabelite looked at Tinkerer with a mixture of admiration and disgust. "Are you sure that this... amusement park... is the place to begin our plans? Surely these sailor scouts you fear would keep a close eye on such a valuable collection of energy." 

"What I am sure of is that if you try and drain a lot of energy from a human, one or few, the scouts show up and destroy the drainer. However, what I propose is to drain just a bit off of several thousand people. It should be subtle enough to avoid however it is that the scouts detect youma, and the amount of energy we can obtain..." 

Cabelite interrupted "But the amount of energy is so small, how can it be of any use?" 

The look that Tinkerer gave the Negaverse general was the blackest Cabelite had seen yet. "Simple, general. Take that amount of energy and add five zeros after it. That's how much energy we can get. _PER DAY_, until the scouts interfere. And I am hoping that is a conservative estimate." 

Cabelite nodded satisfactorily. "So, then, how do we go about this?" 

Tinkerer gave Cabelite the sort of grin he hadn't seen since he had left the 'company' of his former generals. "You rig the following rides with energy collectors; the two coasters, the 'sky drop' and the 'Tunnel of Love'". 

"I do not understand why you wish to rig the last. It does not seem to generate the same excitement that the first three do." 

"No, general, it doesn't. But it will harvest the most energy of them all." 

* * * * * * * * * 

Patricia Haruna gave Micheal Thunders the strangest look. "Why did you bring us here? Aren't we a little old for amusement parks?" This was not what she had expected when she had agreed to his offer of a date. 

Micheal just gave her a goofy grin as she proceeded through the entrance turnstiles. "Couple of reasons. First, who do we teach?" 

"Teenagers. Thirteen to sixteen or so, depending on your classes." 

"That is exactly why we are here. Its my first rule of teaching; always remember what it was like to be a student their age. Granted, you must still retain a position of respect, but I find remembering what was like to be them helps establish a bond with them." Micheal looked at Patricia and decided that he hadn't made his point. "OK, try it from this point of view. When you were attending the university, getting your teaching credentials, who did you feel most comfortable with, the older teachers, or the young ones who were just getting started?" 

"The younger ones. They seemed to remember better what it was like to be a student. They didn't always let it affect them, but they did seem..." 

"And that, Patricia, applies to us, as well," Micheal pointed out, driving his idea home. 

"But what about student discipline? Doesn't having to enforce order make it harder to be close?" 

"Yes, but sometimes discipline, as enforced here in Japan, isn't the answer either. Take Ms. Tusinko, for example." 

The grimace on Patricia Haruna's face said even more than her words. "Do I have to? I thought you were teaching me to have fun again." 

"Your the one who brought the subject up. Consider this, though, Patricia. All those times you've given her detention, or worse. Have they really done that much good?" 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Tinkerer could hardly conceal his glee. The energy drain was barely detectable, according to the sensors he had had placed near the amusement park. And yet the amount of energy they were siphoning off the park goers was twice the amount he had hoped for. In one day they had so far gathered enough energy to replace everything expended since he had 'recruited' Cabelite. And they could continue to do this until the enemy discovered it. 'Which may well be never!' he chortled to himself. If they could keep this rate of drain, in a month Cabelite's warriors would be invincible. 'Don't exactly want that. I want him strong enough to defeat those 'scout' girls, but not so strong I can't eliminate him once he has served his purpose.' Quietly he reached over and tripled the amounts of energy the collectors were gathering from the Tunnel of Love. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Micheal smiled and whooped as the train pulled into the station. He had finally talked Patricia into riding the parks main attraction, a coaster filled with several loops and drops. He looked at his left hand as the safety bar released, noting with concern that it had transformed. Quickly he helped Patricia up with one hand while shoving his suddenly metal left hand into the pocket of his great-coat and out of sight. 'I'm transforming?!?! WHY??? What threat can there be _here_???' The two of them walked down the exit ramp of the ride and found a bench. 

It took a moment before Patricia was able to speak. "That was rather intense. It's strange though; a moment ago I was soo excited, but now I feel almost drained." 

'Strange, so do I. Something is defiantly wrong here. I wonder if FRED is detecting anything. Can't hurt to ask.' Micheal cast his eyes around and saw the perfect excuse. "I'll be right back. I need to use the little sensei's room." 

"Ride to much for you, Mr. cast iron stomach? I thought you were boasting about how tough you were." 

"That's not why I'm going." 

"Must be all that liquid then. I don't see how you can drink all that sugar and caffeine and still get to sleep at night. I think you drink more soda than even Serena Tsukino!" giggled Patricia to Micheal's retreating back. 

Inside the restroom Micheal was glad to find that the stalls had doors. He needed the privacy, something that was a premium in this crowded city. <> He all but mentally screamed at his other half. 

>>Danger detected. Preparing to engage defense mode.<<

<> 

>>Energy levels dropped 3%. Danger of energy loss greater than danger of detection.<<

<> 

>>Negative. Energy removed from system. Not system producing less energy. Survival imperative will be invoked if situation remains unchanged.<<

<> 

>>Agreed.<< With that, Micheal felt his skin crawl as metal became flesh again. He reached into one of the inner pockets of his coat and withdrew what looked like a common cellular phone and turned it on. 

"FRED, Have you been detecting anything unusual?" 

"Only readings that totally defy baselines defined to date. WHY THE _BLEEP_ did you shut the link off??? Something is not right here. In fact, a moment ago I detected some sort of power surge from the Tunnel of Love. But can I get a hold of you?? Noooooooooooo......." 

"Can the sarcasm, FRED. I'll go check it out right now." 

"I don't suppose that.." 

"No, FRED. Low profile, remember?" 

"Doesn't mean I have to like it." 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Patricia smothered a yawn as they waited in line for the Tunnel of Love. 'Great. I've been around Serena so long she is rubbing off on me!' She had immediately agreed with the idea for riding the Tunnel of Love. Somehow, sitting down for a bit in a nice slow boat seemed just the thing to do. 'Can't fall asleep though, or Micheal will think I'm just like that baka Serena.' 

"Thinking about Ms. Tusinko, I see," grinned Micheal as he looked at her. 

"How could you tell?" 

"You looked like someone just hit you over the head with a mallet. Same expression that you had when that front office clerk told you no one else wanted her." 

"I didn't think it was that obvious." 

"If you know what to look for. And I wanted to talk to you about her, anyway," continued Micheal. "Have you noticed anything peculiar about the way she answers questions on tests?" 

"Just that no matter how many times I cover a topic, she never gets it right." 

"More than that. Have you noticed she seems to get the general idea behind something, but she tends to have the specifics all garbled?" 

"It's because she doesn't study enough. I'm surprised that we haven't seen her here. This is the sort of thing she prefers to homework." 

Micheal grinned. "I happened to have run into her on my way out the door to pick you up. Apparently her boyfriend is my next door neighbor. I rather strongly hinted that if she had enough time to go out on a date, she had enough time to have her homework done." 

"It won't help. Even when she does do the homework, she doesn't get it right." 

"Which is why I wanted to talk to you. This pattern seems familiar to me. I want to try and have her take a couple of tests for me. Special tests, to see if my suspicions are correct." Micheal Paused for a moment. "I think she has a learning disability. But I won't know for certain without those tests. Would she agree?" 

Patricia thought about that for a moment. "Maybe, but I would want to talk to one of her friends about it first. If anyone can convince her to do it, it would be her." 

"Great. Who is she?" 

"Only the best student in the school. She is in that advanced physics class you teach in the mornings. Amy Mizuno." 

At this point they had reached the front of the line. As they climbed into the small boat, Micheal draped his great-coat over Patricia's shoulders. 'Amy is Serena's friend. Hmmm.' As they settled in, he asked, "Tell me, have you ever heard of something called Mentoring?" 

* * * * * * * * * * 

>>SURVIAL IMPERATIVE INVOKED. ACTIVE DEFENSES ENGAGED. Inquiry: Organic Status?<<

<> 

Micheal looked about, knowing without looking that he had transformed into Star Ranger. The weight of his transformed self had sunk the boat they were sitting in, so he hopped out and gathered up an unconscious Patricia and set her on a ledge out of the water, just in time to avoid the boat behind them. Micheal noted with concern that it's occupants were also unconscious. 

<> 

>>Severe system energy loss. Defense mode immune. Source: undetermined Awaiting instructions.<<

<> 

Star Ranger's senses widened, his vision spreading into the infra-red and ultra-violet. His enhanced vision showed strange crystals embedded along the roof of the ride. 

>>Crystals contain unknown properties. Theory: Crystals cause of energy drain phenomenon. Eliminate?<<

<> 

>>Targeting<< White rectangles appeared around the strange crystals, even as his arm came up. The gun in his right hand began firing, strobes of laser light flashing out, one shot to a crystal. As each crystal was struck, it shattered with a flash of ultra-violet light. Leaving Patricia where she was, Star Ranger made his way to the unloading area of the ride, destroying crystals as he went. As he emerged, he saw ride attendants picking up unconscious riders and stacking them on the dock like cordwood. Only his enhanced vision showed something other than human contained in those forms. 

"I don't know what you things are, but your plans end here!" As Star Ranger, his voice was rather flat and metallic, but the creatures seemed to get the message well enough. They dropped the people they were carrying and charged him, shedding their apparent human forms for something more menacing. Apparently, whatever they were did not consider his robotic Star Ranger form very menacing. 

<>, Star Ranger commanded. Laser bolts flashed from the barrel of the hand held weapon. He riddled his attackers with the bolts, but they just shrugged them off and kept right on coming. 

<> He felt his left arm shudder as the telekinetic generators pulsed. The telekinetic wave struck the two ... whatever they were and threw them a good fifty feet. But the look on the faces of the two creatures boded ill as they picked themselves up and charged at him again. 

>>Primary weapons ineffective. Recommend alternate tactics.<<

<> "Star Shield summons", he shouted, unconvinced it would work, since the Shield was an artifact of another dimension. His fears were put to rest as the orange glow appeared on his left forearm and formed into the magical artifact. He held the shield in front of his upper torso and head, waiting for an attack which never came. He looked, but could see no sign of anyone but the unconscious people from the ride. <>, he demanded. 

>>Negative Threats. Targets have disengaged.<<

<> 

>>Insufficient Data.<<

<> 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Micheal yawned as he took his morning coffee out to the balcony, letting the rising sun wash the last vestiges of sleep from his mind. 

/Morning, neighbor!/ Came from the adjacent balcony. 

/Good morning to you to, Darien. What's with the English?/ 

/Getting in some practice. I'm hoping for a chance to go to an American college in a year or two./ 

/Impressive goal. Kind of expensive though. Which school?/ 

/Harvard. I hope to study civil engineering./ 

/Personally, I think its overrated. Cal-Tech in California is closer and cheaper./ 

/Really? I hadn't heard of it./ 

/OK, I confess bias. Its my alma matter./ 

/I'll have to look into it then. How did the date go?/ 

/It gets an eight on the weird-o-meter. I took her to the Astro-Land amusement park. They suddenly closed the place though, when people started passing out in the Tunnel of Love. Does that sort of thing happen a lot around here?/ 

'DAMN!' swore Darien to himself. 'I thought we were done with fighting for a while!' /Kind of. Public works claimed that the problem was solved though. Guess they were wrong./ 'What is the Negaverse up to now?? Strange though, that he was there and not attacked like the others. I wonder if Raye can help with this.' /Have any plans for this morning?/ 

/Not really, Why?/ 

/I happen to know a Shinto priestess in training who has an open mind. Would you like to meet her?/ 

/Does Tokyo have a bay??/ 

/I'll take that as a yes. Meet you at your car in half an hour?/ 

/I'll be there!/ 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Raye looked past Darien to where Micheal was standing, looking at the small booth where the shrine sold various charms. "I don't sense anything from him. What makes you think that he might have something to do with the Negaverse?" 

"I just want to make sure. He claims he was at the amusement park that was attacked last night, but that he wasn't affected. That makes me a little suspicious. And he is interested in the more mystical aspects of Shintoism. I would have brought him by to meet you and your grandpa because of that anyway." 

"OK, Darien. Just what exactly do you want me to do?" 

"Talk to him. Answer his questions, and try and see if you can pick up anything else. Maybe even try a fire reading if you can talk him into it. I'm going to call a meeting about what happened last night. Why didn't any of us know what was going on until it was all over?" 

"OK, but I'm going to call the others first. I want us all here if your right about this. Although I hope your wrong." 

"Not as much as I do, Raye." 

* * * * * * * * * * 

"TINKERER!! I want an explanation. You said it would take time for the scouts to discover what we were doing at that 'amusement park' place. Yet someone stumbled onto our plan the first night!" 

"Someone miscalculated the draw of the crystals your youma placed in the Tunnel of Love, Cabelite. People started passing out, and that got the attention of the park management. I aborted the operation before we were discovered. Or do you WANT to loose warriors to those 'Scout' brats?" 

Cabelite considered this for a moment. "How are my youma supposed to attack the enemy if you have them run away at the first sign of discovery?" 

"The time for attacking those do-gooders will come very soon Cabelite. But its pointless to send youma who cant defend themselves against the enemy. Without more energy, your warriors are little more than clay pigeons for those fuku-clad girls." 

"Since you have such a low opinion of my warriors, why don't you try gathering energy without them," Cabelite sneered. 

"Fine. I will." 'That's it, you arrogant bastard. Play right into my hands.' 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Raye eyed her friends as she entered her room. Darien looked at her expectantly. "Darien, what do you know about this person?" 

"Not to much. He moved into my Apartment building about 10 days ago. He said he comes from America, flew for their air force, and made a lot of money designing high technology before embarking on a journey to find himself. He has a civilian version of the American army personell transport loaded with electronic gadgets, and a computer that talks like a real person." 

Raye shook her head. "None of that helps explain what it was I saw in the fire. It was the weirdest thing. I saw him, but he was also some sort of robotic creature. He give of a weird vibe too, very subtle, you have to be searching for it detect it. Not Negaverse vibes, but he doesn't feel like he belongs here either." 

"And this from the girl who thought *I* was a youma the first time she saw me?" quipped Serena as she looked up from the manga she was reading. 

"Spare me, meatball head. That was before I knew what a Negavibe really was. And which one of my manga are you into now?" 

"Chill out Raye. I borrowed this one from Chad. He said it was a classic." 

"Which one?" 

"Macross, why?" 

"Can I see it for a moment?" Raye quickly flipped through the pages and then gasped. 

"What is it, Raye?" inquired Amy. 

Ray laid out the manga and pointed to a drawing of a humanoid robot, the 'Battleoid' form of the transforming mecha featured in Macross. "Except for the color scheme, the form I saw overlaid on him looked JUST LIKE THIS!" 

"Would someone please tell me who we are talking about here?" complained a very confused Mina. 

"The new teacher at Serena's school. Micheal Thunders." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Action, intrigue, and misconceptions. Sounds like life as usual for the Sailor Scouts, doesn't it? I _almost_ feel sorry for doing that to Muck. I know I wouldn't want to have Raye think I might be suspicious... She packs a mean ofuda, dont'cha think? 

Episode 3: Friend or Foe? (Kinda Fits, ne?) 


	4. Friend or Foe?

Typical Header Stuff: 

Even though most of these give you about as much coverage as a g-string on a stripper, I'm going to play it safe and include it anyway... 

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all characters contained within this work are the copyright of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Kodansya and probably lots of other big people I'm forgetting. I am using them without permission, but suing me because of it would be futile as I have nothing. Any characters that are not copyrighted by other people are my own creation, and therefore copyrighted by myself... which means that if for some REALLY weird reason you decided you wanted to use them, (and why would you decide that?!?!?!?) you need to write me for permission. 

Comments, Criticisms, and flames welcome... Starrngr@aol.com However, due to a large amount of spam I have received in the past, I have blocked off mail from some domains. Sorry if your one of them. And don't expect me to reply to mail that's nothing but Flames! 

See the Character Bio for information on key people to this Fic.... 

The Wanderer: Wandering Moon: Episode Three: Friend or Foe? 

Tinkerer looked the readouts and smiled. Indeed this 'Cherry Hill' temple was a popular place. He sent the final commands to his collectors and sat back to watch the results. Regardless of what he might claim to Cabelite's face, this time he did not want to conduct a undetected operation. Indeed, if his new creations performed as planned, he may not even need the egotistic Negaverse general. And the thought that he might be that much closer to his goals brought a smile to his lips. 

'Come out, come out, wherever you are, my sailor pretties. Come out and play with the toys that will spell your doom.' 

* * * * * * * * * * 

"You've got to be kidding me, Raye!!" wailed Serena. "The one teacher in school who doesn't hate me is a youma??" 

"That is not what she said, Serena," interjected Amy, trying to avoid the inevitable rain of tears. "She said whatever it was wasn't negavibes. After all, I have classes with him too and my computer didn't register a thing. Surely if he was sent by the Negaverse he would have done something we could detect by now." 

"Maybe the reason Ray saw this 'Battleoid' form over him is because he likes these transforming robot manga. I hear this series was a big hit in the U.S. a few years back," observed Lita. "Besides, he reminds me of my sempai. I'd hate to think I was attracted to a youma in disguise!" 

"That could be true, but that's not the impression the fire gave me," commented Raye. "I think there is more of a connection than that." 

"We have another problem at the moment, girlfriends," interjected Mina. "What has a metal body, eight legs and drains energy?" 

"This is no time for riddles Mina," replied Raye, her temper flaring. "We are trying to have a serious discussion here." Then she realized that Mina was not at the table, but looking out the door towards the outer areas of the temple. 

"I _AM_ being serious, Raye. Whatever they are, they are all over the temple grounds, attacking visitors!!" As if to emphasize Mina's point, a scream could be faintly heard through the open door. 

"It doesn't matter what they are, their moondust!" declared Serena. "Breaking up a meeting before I even get a chance at some food!" Raye rolled her eyes at that comment but held her tongue as she reached for her transformation wand. 

"Venus Power!" "Mars Power!" "Jupiter Power!" "Mercury Power!" "Moon Crystal POWER!!!" 

"SCOUT POWER!!!" 

* * * * * * * * * 

"I don't see what swinging through trees has to do with religion, Chad," commented Micheal, as he landed solidly next to the young acolyte. "And how the heck can you see through that mop of hair, anyway?" 

"Its an acquired skill. And all I know is this is the training routine Sensei uses." 'No point in telling him Sensei was acting weird then. It would ruin the joke.' Any further commentary Chad might have made was cut off by the sound of someone screaming. "That sounds like trouble. You'd better stay here where its safe. I've got to go see if Sensei and Raye are OK." 

"OK, Chad," replied Micheal to the running acolyte. 'In a pig's eye, bub. This sounds like something I should do something about!' Glancing about to make sure he was un-observed, Micheal concentrated and shimmered into Star Ranger. He moved to the edge of the grove of trees, and stopped for a moment, in confusion. 'Spyders? Here? HOW?!?!?!?' he noted in confusion, recognizing the primary terror weapon of his old adversary the Tinkerer. Then things got even more interesting.... 

The scouts emerged from the temple into a courtyard filled with chaos. A dozen or so small spiderlike robots darted back and forth, trapping innocent shrine goers in their attempts to escape. In fact, the only people who seemed to be able to avoid the things to any degree were Chad and Grandpa Hino. 

"I don't know what you think your doing, but this is a place of peace and meditation. I am Sailor Moon, and for defiling this place I will punish you!!" At the sound of her speech, the spider-things as one stopped what they were doing and began to slowly approach the group of warriors. "Ooooo, I don't like the looks of this" commented Sailor Moon. 

"Mercury Bubbles, BLAST!" shouted Sailor Mercury and filled the area with a concealing fog. "Come on, we need to draw them away from here!" 

"We need to stop them before someone gets hurt! Come on, Scouts!" shouted Sailor Jupiter, charging into the fog. "Jupiter Thunder, CRASH!!!" The fog lit up with the glow from Jupiter's' attack, but no explosion followed. Metallic scuttling sounds surrounded them as they rushed to Jupiter's' side. Mercury use the remaining few seconds of cover to activate her visor. The information was not encouraging. "The spider things are all around us. My visor says their some sort of robots, not youma. I don't know how well our powers will affect them! There is another signal just inside the trees. It looks like Tuxedo Mask is checking it out." 

The fog continued to disperse, and the spider robots began to appear. Surrounded, the scouts moved into a back to back defensive circle. "We can't just do nothing!" replied Sailor Jupiter. "Jupiter THUNDER DRAGON!!!" The electrical creature formed and swooped down on the advancing menace. A pair of the spider-things were caught in the area of the attack. They stopped dead in their tracks, electricity arcing over their metal bodies. Then the electricity vanished, and the creations began to advance again. "This is NOT good...." 

* * * * * * * * * * 

'What the heck??' Wondered Star Ranger as Mercury's power obscured his view of the battle. <> 

>>THREAT DETECTION: 165r<< Star Ranger whirled and looked behind him. "You've GOT to be Kidding me," he exclaimed. On the branch of a tree stood a man in formal dress, a mask covering his eyes. "Who the heck are you?" 

"I am Tuxedo Mask. And you are history for attacking my friends." 'This thing looks just like the picture Raye pointed out. Is she right?' 

'Great. They think _I_ sent the spyders. This is not good.' Star Ranger dove to the side as Tuxedo Mask made a throwing motion. Three red and green blurs flew by, just missing him, and embedded themselves in a tree. 'ROSES?? THIS LUNATIC USES ROSES AS A WEAPON?!?!?! This place just moved up to a 10 on the Weird-o-meter!' Star Ranger threw up an arm and blocked a descending cane blow. The stranger in formal wear had used the moment of confusion to close to hand to hand range. 

Hand to hand, the fight was a stalemate. Star Ranger couldn't connect with anything, but neither could his attacker. 'Damn. This is gonna hurt you more than it hurts me, stranger.' <> Tuxedo Mask went for another overhand cane blow, as Star Ranger had hoped. Blocking with his right arm, his left dropped into position. <> Tuxedo Mask was too close to try and do anything about the surprise attack. The telekinetic charge caught him square in the stomach and slammed him against a tree, where he sagged, lifeless. 'SHIT!!' <> 

>>Target Disabled. Life signs detected but stable.<< 'Whew. I was worried for a second there! I don't know who you are, but your going to live.' Star Ranger turned and headed for the sounds of battle. <> 

Sailor Jupiter looked at the face of her enemy. The scouts had thrown everything they had at the metallic monsters, and had only succeeded in slowing them down. On the other hand, the things hadn't attacked them to this point. 'Uh oh... I bet they were waiting for us to use up our powers!' Now only a meter or so away, panels opened on the front of the robots and each deployed a wicked looking set of claws. Sailor Jupiter closed her eyes and concentrated on summoning enough power for one last desperate attack. 

Across the circle, a worried Sailor Mercury pushed Sailor Moon into the center of the defensive circle. Aside from the instinctive desire to protect the moon princes, Sailor Moon had suddenly become hysterical that something had happened to Tuxedo Mask. In fact, Sailor Moon was all but comatose, in a state of standing shock. 'There has to be a way to beat these things! What am I missing??' Her attention was drawn to movement from the trees at the edge of the courtyard. 'Its that large signal I detected! It looks almost exactly like the picture Raye showed us!' 

After a moment, though, Sailor Mercury realized that something was wrong here. First of all, the attacker was no larger than an average human. Most youma stood seven feet or more. Second, it was attacking the spider-robots, not the Sailor scouts. And ITS attacks seemed effective against the Spider-robots. The strange weapon in its hands fired blast after blast of laser energy. And no robot could withstand more than three of the blasts before being torn apart by a small internal explosion. The remaining spider-bots turned away from the scouts and charged this new threat, but were helpless before its weapon. One at the rear of the attack rolled itself into a ball that seemed impervious to the stranger's weapons. It waited for the firing to stop and began to flee the area. 

"Oh no you don't," spoke the strange humanoid robot, its voice metallic and distorted. It shifted its weapon to its left hand and pointed its right arm at the fleeing spider-oid. A ball of electricity flew from the pod on its arm and struck the spider-oid, which let out a metallic wail and froze, every compartment on its body springing open. The humanoid started walking towards the intact spider-oid, while returning its weapon to its right hand. 

"Evil Spirit, BEGONE!" Sailor Mars took the opportunity to cast an ofuda on the Humanoid robot. The 'Battleoid' stopped, but only because it turned around and was now looking at a very frightened and confused Sailor Mars. 

"Spirit charms? Six feet of metal and mayhem and _YOU_ think I'm an evil freaking spirit?? I take it back. This place gets a freaking 12 on the weird-o-meter!" The battleoid was shaking its head as it regarded the Sailor Scouts. It pulled the Ofuda off of its arm and started walking towards the paralyzed spider-oid. 

"What are you and what have you done with my Tuxedo Mask!" Sailor Moon had finally found her voice, but was still rather hysterical. 

"If you mean a guy with an overly formal taste in clothes and a flower fixation, he's back in those trees over there. He seems to think that I'm a bad guy too. Only he didn't give me any options, so I had to spike him into a tree. I didn't kill him, but I could have. So consider that in your is he a Bad Guy equation." With that comment, the 'Battleoid' picked up the disabled spideroid and tucked it under its left arm. "But since you ladies seem fixated with names, you can call me Star Ranger." Blue flames burst from the nozzles of the pods on its back, and the Star Ranger was propelled 300 meters and over the wall of the temple, disappearing from sight. The sounds of people moaning all around them as they started to regain consciousness decided against any thought of pursuit. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Tinkerer sighed as the telemetry signals from the last of his spyders went dead. 'Looks like those sailor pretties are better than I thought. I didn't get any more energy than our last attempt, and the sailors found a way to disable the spyders.' His hands flew across the keyboard of his computer as he reviewed the data. 'Interesting. The scouts didn't defeat the spyders. Something else did. This bears further investigation indeed.' 

Cabelite teleported into the lab. "I see that your machines were no more successful than my youma. Since I don't see them here, its plain that they were destroyed. Your toys are worthless, Tinkerer." 

Tinkerer gave the Negaverse general a cold look as he got up from his chair and crossed the room to another of his machines. "Maybe, and maybe not. Those toys, as you call them, were sophisticated intelligence gathering units. The information they recorded about their defeat should be most helpful." 

"They were destroyed, _CRIPPLE_! Of what use could the shattered remains be?" taunted Cabelite. 

"The knowledge of how the scouts defeated them will be of much more use to me than your contempt, Cabelite." 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Amy looked up from her computer and sighed. "These readings from those robots mean bad news for us. They seem to be shielded against our powers. Whoever built them has access to a technology that shouldn't be here. We couldn't have stopped them if that 'Star Ranger' hadn't interfered. " 

"How do we know that this whole thing isn't a trick?" demanded the ever suspicious Raye. 

"If that 'Star Ranger' thing created them, he wouldn't have had any reason to stop them from destroying us. And I doubt that he would go to the trouble of creating these things just to blow them up to get on our good side," replied Amy. 

"It was quiet before Micheal moved in," observed Darien. "And now we have attacks by someone who has access to technology we have never seen before. We know Micheal has a computer that is at least one generation ahead of anything on the market now, and a car loaded with cutting edge electronics. He was at the sight of the last attack and vanished when this one started and hasn't been seen since. I think he bears watching." 

"Whatever is going on, I don't think he is evil. If he was, Raye's ofuda should have done SOMETHING," observed Mina. "And he claims he could have killed Darien but he didn't. I think we are way out in the dugout here." 

"Don't you mean left field?" corrected Amy. 

"Whatever." 

* * * * * * * * * * 

"I wish you would tell me what it is about this thing that has you so worked up, Muck," FRED commented. 

"How could you tell?" 

"Your repeating yourself. You normally don't do that when your cursing." 

"This spyder shouldn't _be_ here, FRED. I've seen these things before. They were a favorite toy of a person a fought once, went by the name of Tinkerer." 

"Wasn't he the one you were trying to stop when the accident happened?" inquired FRED. 

"Yes. I don't see how he could be _HERE_ though." 

"Why not? Who says that only you got blown through the rift? Or that you two would wind up in the same place? We know someone brought us here; why couldn't it be to stop him?" 

"That's an awful lot of trouble to go through to deal with a problem," Micheal observed. 

"Those girls that the spyders were attacking weren't able to do much to them. I say thetas why we're here, to help those girls this morning handle this robot bug problem." 

"Since you are so certain, lets do some digging FRED. We are looking for anything about teenage girls in short skirts fighting evil, and or Tinkerer. Physical Description of Tinkerer: Six Foot even, bout 250 pounds, Brown curly hair, brown eyes. Sort of a middle eastern complexion. Check newspaper archives, police records, anything you can get into." 

* * * * * * * * * 

Tinkerer scowled at the unmistakable image on the screen before him. He had found the remains of the spyders, but one was missing. Of the remaining eleven, only one had a recorder that had survived the damage. And even then the information was damaged. None the less, he had deciphered enough to tell that the spyders had fulfilled their design. The 'Sailor Scouts' had been unable to damage his spyders. 'But it's no wonder that you could. To you, my life was nothing more than a piece of trash to be collected and disposed of.' "I don't know how you found me, but this time it will be you who falls." 

Tinkerer had not realized that he had spoken aloud until he heard Cabelite's voice behind him. "It appears, _cripple_, that the thought that I can do something that you cannot is driving you quite over the edge." The general's voice was full of scorn and contempt. 

"We, general, have something far more important to worry about. Take a look at that monitor. It shows the face of our real enemy. One who is much more of a threat than those silly girls." The picture displayed struck Cabelite of a youma, for a moment. The arms and legs were square, the chest tapering to a conical lower torso. The head was an irregularly shaped box, with two antenna extended from protrusions where the ears would be. Two pods extended from its back, over the shoulder. Some sort of armored pod rested on the underside of each lower arm, and covered the lower leg as well. A green and black stripe ran across the chest, paralleling the lower edge of the chest. The pods were a matching shade of green, and a black visor covered the eye area of the head. Yet, this creature was made of metal, not negaflesh, nor had he ever seen a youma with that style of hip articulation. In its hands it held a large black device, its pistol grip marking it a weapon. 

"How do you know this... _thing_?" inquired Cabelite. 

"He and I have met before. In a very real sense, he is responsible for my presence here, as well as my present physical state. His presence here represents a definite threat to us." 

"You sound as if you have a plan to deal with this... this.. thing." 

"That thing has a name, General. It is called 'Star Ranger', and its quite possible that it's almost as intelligent as myself. I doubt that fact will help it against a youma, though... " 

coming soon: Part 4: Secrets 


	5. Secrets

Typical Header Stuff: 

Even though most of these give you about as much coverage as a g-string on a stripper, I'm going to play it safe and include it anyway... 

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all characters contained within this work are the copyright of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Kodansya and probably lots of other big people I'm forgetting. I am using them without permission, but suing me because of it would be futile as I have nothing. Any characters that are not copyrighted by other people are my own creation, and therefore copyrighted by myself... which means that if for some REALLY weird reason you decided you wanted to use them, (and why would you decide that?!?!?!?) you need to write me for permission. 

Comments, Criticisms, and flames welcome... Starrngr@aol.com However, due to a large amount of spam I have received in the past, I have blocked off mail from some domains. Sorry if your one of them. And don't expect me to reply to mail that's nothing but Flames! 

See the Character Bio for information on key people to this Fic.... 

The Wanderer: Wandering Moon: Episode Four: Secrets 

Patricia Haruna leaned against the open door of the classroom. "Well??" 

Micheal Thunders looked up from the papers spread over his desk. "Deep subject, that. Care to elaborate, or is this one of those things where I get hit over the head with a mallet cause I don't instantly know what your talking about??" 

"Well, for someone who says that we need to have a life other than work you certainly are here early. Not at all like your first week here." 

Micheal smiled at the comment. "One week does not a pattern make. But there are actually two reasons I'm here so early. First, I was hoping to catch Amy Mizuno before class starts and talk to her about what we mentioned Friday night. Second, Friday morning I caught one of the students trying to poke around in my desk before class." 

"Short, bad complexion, and _really_ thick glasses?" 

"That's the one. I take it this isn't that unusual?" 

"Sadly, it's not. His name is Melvin Umino. He isn't just plugged into every gossip network in school, he uses his computer to trade information with other schools as well. He normally isn't quite so direct, though." Patricia seemed upset that this person would stoop to rifling a teacher's desk for gossip material. Then a large sweat-drop formed as Micheal started laughing. 

"A new teacher he doesn't know anything about must drive him nuts," he explained. "But the real payoff is that I learned long ago not to keep a darn thing I didn't want a student to see in my desk. The only think I keep in it are a few school supplies for students who run out unexpectedly. I'll have to leave it unlocked for him, with a note that says 'Gotcha'." 

"That should definitely take the wind out of the boy's sails. You certainly look busy with all those papers on your desk." 

"I had a really weird thing happen over the weekend, and I wanted to do some research about it." 

Patricia paled, correctly fearing she knew where this was going. "What sort of weird?" Micheal's response only confirmed those fears. 

"Weird as in strange 'things' attacking people, only to be driven off by teenage girls wearing skirts short enough to be a perverts dream. Weird as in no one ever has gotten a good look at them. The sort of weird the look on your face says you know something that isn't in these two and three paragraph mentions in the paper." 

"Its not the sort of thing you ever talk about around here, Micheal. Its the sort of thing that gets you a nice long stay in a room with padded walls..." 

"Whatever it is sounds real serious, Patricia. Not knowing could be serious bad news. How about I promise secrecy, and I'll throw in dinner tomorrow night, you pick the place?" 

"Deal. I'll explain it then." 

"Good Morning Haruna-Sensei, Thunders-sensei." The two instructors looked over to the open door, where Amy Mizuno stood. "Your note said that you wanted to see me before school, Thunders-sensei. Am I in some sort of trouble?" 

Patricia mouthed the word 'Later', at Micheal and smiled as she walked out of the classroom and past the school's best student. "No, your not in trouble Ms. Mizuno. I stopped in to drop of some papers Thunders-sensei left in the office." 

Micheal waved the young girl into the classroom. "Your not in trouble at all, Ms. Mizuno. I asked to see you about something else entirely. Please, come in and have a seat." 

Amy looked over the new instructor at Juuban Jr. High as she took a seat in front of the teachers desk. He was taking a moment to gather up the papers on his desk and shove them into his briefcase, but not before Amy was able to tell that they all appeared to be copies of the few times the newspapers had printed stories about the Sailor Scout's exploits. 'So, he is interested in the scouts. We know he was at the temple when it got attacked, but this still doesn't prove anything. Its not like there is anything in the papers that could lead him to us. Still, I had best be careful.' "What did you want to see me about Thunders-sensei?" 

"I understand that you are friends with Serena Tsukino?" 

'He must know! How could he possibly know??' "Yes, we have known each other for a while now." 

Micheal noticed Amy's discomfort. It was well hidden, but over the years Micheal had learned subtle clues to look for. 'Why should she be nervous? I'd swear she thinks I'm about to attack her or something!' "Ever tried to help her study?" At that question, Amy relaxed, but again, it would have been unnoticed to an untrained eye. 

"Yes, Sensei. I'm not sure how much good it has done, though." 

"I have an idea of why she is doing so poorly in school. I'd like to have her take a couple of tests to see if I am right about it, and I was hoping you would put in a good word for me with her." 

"I'll mention it to her, but Serena makes her own decisions," was Amy's reply. 

"That's really all I could hope for. Regardless, there is a project I would like you to help me with." 

Amy tensed up all over again. "And what sort of project is that, Sensei?" 

"Have you ever heard of something the Americans call mentoring?" 

* * * * * * * * * 

"Hey Guys," Lita Kino waved as she joined Serena and Amy in their favorite good weather lunch spot. "You aren't going to believe what I just saw in the cafeteria." 

"Do they have something totally yummy for dessert?" asked Serena hopefully. 

"Nope. Melvin is siting there eating wearing a sign that says 'I will not snoop'. The word is Thunders-sensei is making him wear it for lunch today after having caught Melvin snooping in his desk." Lita paused for a moment while the other girls giggled at the mental picture. "He must really have been steamed about it. I mean, he does have Serena in his classes but he's never lost his temper with her, even when she dumped that sodium down the sink." 

"I think he was very understanding about that," interjected Serena, as she eyed the contents of Lita's bento box. "I mean, how was I supposed to know that sodium and water don't mix." Lita just shrugged while Amy sweat-dropped over the image of Serena mixing water and sodium as Serena continued. "I mean, sodium is a component of salt, right? And there's all that salt in the oceans and the sodium doesn't blow up!" That last bit of logic caused Lita to face-fault as well. 

"The reason salt doesn't blow up is because salt is actually sodium chloride. The chloride binds to the sodium so it doesn't blow up," Amy explained, as Lita motioned to Serena that she could help herself. "Still, I think that incident has him a little worried. He asked me to see him this morning, to ask if I would agree to help you with your studies." 

Lita seemed lost in thought as she considered that fact. "I would think that's a vote against him being from the Negaverse then. If I was a nega-creep I wouldn't care about my students performance except to drain energy from them. I also wouldn't pass up the chance to make a quick energy grab by trying to drain a lone student, as well." 

"I tend to agree," nodded Amy, "especially since he wouldn't know I was a Sailor scout. The problem is that I was able to get a quick scan of him during class time and he isn't really human." 

"Are you sure??" exclaimed Serena, spraying a small bit of rice. "But the two of you just got done saying he isn't acting like a youma!" 

"He isn't a youma," confirmed Amy, "he doesn't radiate Nega-energy. But there is something about him that isn't human either." 

"Which leaves us back where we were when we started this conversation," sighed Lita. "We suspect that he is related to that attack on the temple Saturday, but we still don't know how." 

"We also know now that he is interested in us," added Amy. Noticing the shocked look on her friends faces, she continued, blushing slightly. "When I showed up this morning to talk to him his desk was covered with newspaper clippings about the scouts. However, for all we know he just wants to know enough to run the other way when a youma does show up." 

"I wish I could do that." 

"SERENA!!!" 

* * * * * * * * * 

Cabelite looked over at the Tinkerer, disguising his worries with contempt for Tinkerer's technology. "I still don't see what you hope to gain with this plan," he sneered, knowing such a statement would provoke an explanation. 

"All right, I'll explain it again, in words small enough even _your_ mind can comprehend them." The Tinkerer didn't look particularly happy at being distracted. "With your youma controlling the principal of Juuban Jr. High, we gather all the students for an assembly. That will put them all in one place, and we can suck out their energy. Star Ranger seems to love children, so, as soon as he hears about it he is bound to try and stop it. When he does, your youma turn him into scrap metal." 

"But what if he doesn't find out about it?" 

"Then we have gained a major horde of energy we can use to supercharge your youma to stand against Sailor Moon when the time comes. We then repeat the attacks, at one school or another, until he does show up. Sooner or later we will catch him." 

"But what if the Sailor scouts show up instead?" 

"They've never fought more than one youma at a time. Three should be more than enough to overpower them. And if they _do_ show up, we can assume that they attend that school and we will have something even more valuable than energy... Information. If we know where they go to school we will be able to attack them when they aren't ready for us. No matter what happens, we win." 

"Easy for you to say, cripple. Its not your forces who face destruction." 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Micheal looked in the door of Patricia's classroom, and noted the fact that she was looking at the PA speaker like it was about to attack her. Given the strange things that had happened over the weekend, he really didn't blame her either. He knocked on the open door to get her attention. 

"I take it from the look on your face that this sort of thing is _NOT_ normal for this school? I mean, your looking at the speaker like its a harbinger of doom." 

Patricia turned to look at him. "No, its not. Normally we know about any assemblies a few days in advance. I have a very bad feeling about this." 

"Is it related to the things you aren't going to talk about until dinner tomorrow night?" Micheal inquired with a very intent look. 

"I don't know. I really hope I am just being silly." 

"Nope, being silly is ignoring the shortest distance between two puns." deadpanned Micheal. 

"And what is that?" 

"A great straight line." 

As the brick bounced of his head, Micheal's only thought was that Patricia Haruna could really move when she wanted to. 

* * * * * * * * * 

Given the large amounts of co-incidence that seemed to occur in Juuban district, it shouldn't have surprised Micheal that both his class and Patricia's wound up walking to the auditorium together. And being one not to pass up a chance, he dropped into step beside Patricia and tried to make a peace offering. 

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to forgive me." he whispered. 

"Only if you promise not to use another stinker like the last one," was Patricia's whispered reply. 

"Done Deal. Still on for tomorrow night then?" 

Patricia answered with a nod, and both teachers turned to the task at hand of getting their students to the auditorium and seated. However, given the Japanese passion for order, it wasn't to hard. With everyone seated, Micheal realized that he had the perfect opportunity to talk with Serena about his suspicions. Getting her attention, he indicated to her that he wished to speak to her outside. Again, he thanked the Japanese love of obeying authority as he was able to get her to agree with a minimum of fuss. 

"What is it you wanted to talk to me about Sensei?" One thing was for certain, Serena Tsukino knew how to get to the point if she wanted to. 

"Its about your performance in school, Ms. Tsukino. As I'm sure you are aware, its not up to school standards." 

Serena eyes began to water as she responded. Micheal rather hoped that he wasn't about to be on the receiving end of one of her famous crying attacks. "I know how the other sensei feel about my performance. I really try, but its all just so hard! No matter what I try, I just do not seem to understand the material!" 

Micheal quickly moved to stop a full on wailing. He even produced a handkerchief and gave it to her as he answered her worries. "I have heard that you have problems Serena. I've also been observing you in class since I got here and I have a theory. I think there is a reason why you do so poorly in class, and I would like to help." 

"Really??" The thought that one of her teachers thought she was something more than she appeared seemed to do a lot to stopping her sniffling. 

"Really, Ms. Tsukino. I'd like you to take a few tests for me after school sometime and see if I am right. You'll still have to work hard, but if I'm right I can get you help that will make it pay off. Are you willing to try?" 

"If it means that I'll actually understand what your trying to teach, I'll give it a try. Maybe I could catch up to Amy, now that would be wicked cool. But I still get detention a lot. And I'm supposed to be home not long after that. I don't know if my mom would go for it." Serena looked much less confidant at that point than when she had started. 

"If necessary, I'll talk with Haruna-sensei and arrange to monitor your detentions. That way we can kill two birds with one stone, and I'm sure she would love to get out of here early once in a while." 

"OK, I'll do it then. When do we start?" 

"How about tomorrow afternoon? I won't be able to arrange for the tests until next week, but I can arrange for some study help as soon as tomorrow." 

Behind them, from the auditorium, began to issue the raucous sounds of a rock band. Serena looked at the auditorium doors with some surprise then noticed that Thunders-sensei had a very pained look on his face. 

"Is something wrong, Sensei? You don't look very happy." 

"I'm just not very fond of this particular style of music. I'm glad we were out here when it started. It gives me a good excuse to hide out here. I had hoped that this style of music wouldn't catch on over here, because it rather gives me a headache." 

Whatever Serena was going to say, she stopped when Micheal's jacket began beeping. "I think your jacket is trying to tell you that you have a call, Sensei," she said with a giggle. 

Micheal gave her a sour look for a response, then walked a few steps away for some nominal privacy for the conversation. Serena thought for a moment, and then decided that while she couldn't just go back to her seat because Thunders-sensei hadn't said she could, there was no reason why she couldn't peek in on the concert while she waited for him to finish his phone call. The special effects seemed very cool, at least. It looked like the drum set was shooting out beams of light that were washing over everyone in the audience. She looked, and noticed that Amy and Lita were not enjoying the show, though. They looked like they were... Struggling to reach their transformation wands? Serena began to have a very bad feeling about this. Suddenly she realized that she was not alone, that Thunders-sensei was looking at the same thing she was. She blinked a couple of times after he pulled her away from the door and let it close. Suddenly her mind kicked back up to speed and she knew that something was draining energy from the students at the assembly. 

Evidently, Thunders-sensei felt the same way. He looked at her closely, and asked "Are you all right, Ms. Tsukino?" 

"Yes, Thunders-Sensei" 

"Good. Whatever is going on here doesn't feel right. I want you to go to the office and have them call emergency services. I have a feeling they are going to be needed." 

"But Sensei, what about you?" 

"Don't worry about me. I have something to take care of." 

As teacher and student split up, one thought filled both their minds. 'I have to save those people!!' 

* * * * * * * * * 

Star Ranger fired an Electro Magnetic pulse into the stage lighting controls and smiled as everything went dark. 'Lets just see if these things can fight in the dark, shall we?' Unfortunately, not all went as planned. While the music stopped, after a moment the emergency lights in the auditorium came on, giving enough light for everyone to see by. 

>>>Active scan, target Mode<<<

<<>> 

>>> Understood. Shockwave launcher to 100% and fire<<<

The Telekinetic blast, at least, worked normally. The trio on the stage were knocked off into the wings on the opposite side of the stage. But, like at the amusement park, whatever these creatures were, they were down, but not out. Star could see them getting up from the shock, using his enhanced sensors. 

"There you are," snarled the lead of the trio, as he stood up. "My master was expecting you. He has had enough of your meddling." With that, the three people from the stage began to change, their bodies shimmered and grew, and even with his enhanced senses Star Ranger thought he saw them become one with their instruments. 

As they charged back at him into the light, he realized that his sensors had not been playing tricks on him. These things were part human, part musical instrument. Never one to let the enemy have an advantage, Star charged them right back. Remembering how the creatures at the amusement park hadn't been affected by his laser, he changed his grip and used it as a club, instead. 

It didn't take too long for Star Ranger to realize he had made a major tactical mistake. While they were susceptible to physical damage, they were every bit as fast and tough as he was. And while he knew how to fight, there were still three of them and only one of him. It turned out to be only a matter of time before they managed to tackle him. Pinned to the ground by two of them, the third made a strange gesture and a ball of energy began to form in its cupped hands. 

"Time to die, Hero," sneered the third as it prepared to release its attack. Just then, one of the spotlights lit off from the light booth at the back of the auditorium, startling everyone on stage, including Star Ranger who was certain that all the power had been knocked out. With its concentration broken, the energy ball generated by the creature quickly vanished. 

"As if using a school's assembly to drain innocent students wasn't bad enough, you three show no sense of honor, attacking three on one like that. I am Sailor Moon, and for your dis-honorable acts, I will punish you!!" 

During this distraction, Star Ranger was able to wiggle free of the two attackers holding him down. Internally, he wished for less speech and more action. In his experience, the best introduction was a good swift attack on the bad-guy. However, since the bad guys just sat there and did nothing, Star figured that this was the way things were done in this universe. The three attackers continued to do nothing even while the new arrival made a long, graceful, physics deifying jump from the light booth to the stage. Once she landed, the expressions on the creatures faces turned from fear to amusement. 

"A child is going to punish us?" sneered the apparent leader. "I say you've fought your last battle..." Any further comments that were to be made were cut off by one of the overhead draperies suddenly plunging down from its overhead storage and tangling the three creatures like a net. 

"OOPS," deadpanned Star Ranger, "Did I do that?" He looked over at the young girl in a very short skirted costume. "If you were planning to attack them, _NOW_ would be a _VERY_ good time." 

"Oh, Right!" agreed Sailor Moon, producing the Moon Scepter. One "Moon Scepter Elimination" later, all that was left of the attacking creatures were some piles of dust hidden under the curtain. Star Ranger looked at Sailor Moon and noted that her scepter was now pointed at him. 

"I have a few questions for you, mister. Like who are you and why are you here," demanded Sailor Moon. Star Ranger carefully considered that, but the sound of approaching sirens changed his mind. 

"Maybe another time. Gotta go," replied the Star Ranger, who suddenly ducked and grabbed his gun. Firing a shot into the wings, he cut the emergency cord and brought the 5000 pound fire-curtain down between them. Sailor Moon just stood there and looked at the heavy curtain between them, realizing that by the time she could force her way through it, Star Ranger would be long gone. 

* * * * * * * * * 

Amy, Lita, and Serena gathered by the front steps of the school. With the damage to the school and the principal drained of energy, the Vice Principal had declared the school closed for the rest of the day and tomorrow. Amy and Lita were still a little weak from having been caught in the draining attack, but were recovering quickly. A quick communicator conference had yielded the decision for everyone to gather at the Temple for an emergency scout meeting. As they headed towards the temple to wait for Mina and Raye, they saw Thunders-sensei helping Haruna-sensei into Thunder-sensei's car. Apparently, he saw them too, because he waved them over for a moment. 

"Don't forget about our agreement, Ms. Tsukino," he warned. 

"But Sensei, how am I supposed to study with the school closed?" 

"Nothing says you can't work at home, Ms. Tsukino. And I'm sure Ms. Mizuno would be willing to help you. In fact, I have a list of exercises I want you to try with Ms. Mizuno's help." He laid his briefcase on the hood and opened it, pulling out a textbook and a couple of sheets of paper and handed them to Amy. "Here are the exercises and a copy of the text for Ms. Tsukino's class, Ms. Mizuno. I would greatly appreciate it if you two would work them through tonight or tommorow." 

"Yes, Sensei," the two girls agreed, and turned to go. 

"Oh, and Ms. Mizuno?" the two girls turned to look at their teachers again. 

"After you've helped Ms. Tsukino with the work, take some time off. Do something fun for a change. You're well ahead in your classwork and there is more to being a teenager than school and grades." Micheal noted that Ms. Mizuno found being ordered to relax slightly embarrassing, for she was certainly blushing! 

"Don't worry sensei, I'll make sure of that!" bubbled the irrepressible Serena, as she began to drag a still blushing Amy away from the car. As the three girls headed off to wherever, Micheal noted that Amy had a slightly wild look in her eyes, and was trailing behind the other two girls like she was being lead to an execution. 

____________________________ 

Coming soon, Episode 5, Moonlight Densetsu 

Whew... this one took a long time to write. During the course of writing this chapter, I've had to deal with school leading up to finals, writers block, and preparing some apparently needed revisions in the first three episodes... Things should get better, since finals will be over in a few more days. 


	6. Interlude: Turn and Burn

Typical Header Stuff: 

Even though most of these give you about as much coverage as a g-string on a stripper, I'm going to play it safe and include it anyway... 

Wait a sec here.... I don't have to do that for this story... everyone who appears in it is MINE!!!! This story tells about certain events alluded to during Episode 5 of wandering moon. 

The Wanderer: Wandering Moon: Interlude: Turn and Burn 

In the Ginza, chaos seemed to have broken loose. Or a very very crazy modeler. From what the police were able to gather from witnesses later, a two meter long model of a several year old anime had been cutting in between buildings and generally scaring the population. The best descriptions had come from younger salaryman, whom the police figured had been rabid fans of the show when it was on TV. Then there were the reports of the military being on a heightened alert status, and reports of the model being sighted by civilian air traffic. The general consensus soon became a fear that whatever it was that caused the strangeness that plagued the Juuban district was spreading. Those that could put out general feelers about finding other employment, while the rest quietly wished they had chosen a different career path. 

The cause of all the commotion was, at that moment, enjoying the fine thin air at 10,000 feet. Star Ranger looked down at the island of Japan, spread out below him like a picture. At the moment, he was feeling rather guilty for the flying stunt he had pulled down in the Ginza. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but it had sort of gotten out of hand. He hadn't been flying for the sheer sake of it for a while. He turned the thought over in his head and decided that it hadn't been since he had been torn from his home dimension, at least. Not that he hadn't taken to the air since then, but the times after that had all been because he had to, not because he wanted to. Flying for its own sake was a different breed of animal entirely. No mission objective, no way points, and especially no one trying to kill you! Just open sky, allowing one to become one with his thoughts. 

'You must become one with your aircraft if you ever expect to be a truly great pilot,' The words of his first flight instructor echoed in his head, provoking a moment of irony. One couldn't become more one with his plane than Star Ranger was now! No one had ever understood it, because the probe he had merged with wasn't designed for what had happened. Propelled Jumps, yes, but true flight? And taking the shape of a plane while in flight, defiantly NOT! The best explanation anyone had every been able to come up with was it was a result of the merging. Then again, strictly speaking, causing two pieces of matter to occupy the same place at the same time should have resulted in a rather fatal explosion. 

>>!!!!!!!<< The robotic side of him had been trying to get his attention for a little while now. Star sighed and turned his attention to it. 

<> 

>>Two aircraft approaching rapidly on an intercept course. Radio intercepts indicate high probability of hostile intent. Update: we are now being tracked by an airborne search radar. Radar has locked on and shifted to fire control mode.<<

<> 

#Attention unidentified aircraft. This is Colonel Mizuno of the JSDF. You are in violation of Japanese airspace and are under arrest for violating air safety regulations. Acknowledge this transmission and come with us or we will be forced to open fire. This is your last warning.# 

#Come with you or get shot down, eh? I think I'll choose C, none of the above!# With that, Star Ranger broke down and away from his pursuers, who followed him through the maneuver. 'Hmmm. This could be fun. I haven't been in a 2v1 fight since I got shot down. Of course, they have another advantage in that I don't really wanna hurt them.' #Tell ya what Colonel. Get a cannon shot in on me and I'll surrender. If I get both of you first, you let me go.# 

#One of you against two of the best pilots in the JSDF? We accept your challenge!# 

#Are you equipped with A-Miles?*# Star Ranger replied. 

#Yes.# 

#Good. That will make scoring easy.# With that comment, Star Ranger pulled up into a booster climb, pulling away from the JSDF fighters and gaining an altitude advantage. 

<> 

>>Analysis of radar signature indicates F-15 E Strike Eagles.<<

Star Ranger cut his boosters and tumbled over, slashing back down between the two pursuing fighters, his simulated cannon firing. 

#DAMN! Lead, 2. He got me on that pass. Breaking off.# 

Col. Mizuno swore to himself as he wrenched the heavy fighter over the top and down after his quarry. #Understood. Remain in the area in case this ronin decides to dishonor himself by breaking our agreement.# He worked through a high yo-yo and managed to slip onto the attackers tail as his wingman acknowledged the order. His quarry was just out of gun range, but Col. Mizuno felt he had gained the initiative and added a touch more power to close the range. 

Star Ranger waited until just before his attacker got into gun range before suddenly reversing the turn. To Col. Mizuno it seemed as if the blip marking his quarry suddenly vanished of his radar screen. Cursing, he pulled his fighter up into an Immellman turn to allow his radar to re-acquire the target. It took a radio call to the orbiting radar plane to find it, as his target was now diving for lower altitudes. Smiling grimly, he pulled the plane into a steep dive to catch up. As he expected, his elusive enemy suddenly started to pull up, but Col. Mizuno was ready for this, yanking back on his stick and feeling the G-forces slam him down into the seat. His vision began to gray from the heavy g's he was pulling, but he fought off the effects and made his way back onto the tail of his turning quarry. 

Both combatants lost speed quickly during the tight turn. At just above Col. Mizuno's stall speed, Star Ranger suddenly cut his engines and fired his breaking jets. He started to spins as his wings stalled out, but then Col. Mizuno's Eagle was past and Star Ranger poured back on the power, recovering quickly and sliding into perfect position for the kill. From Col. Mizuno's viewpoint, it was almost as if his target stooped dead in the air as he swept past. He swore as his A-Miles gear began registering hits to his engines, a lethal hit in real life. 

#Nice Try, Colonel,# Star Ranger taunted as he dropped down out of view and raced clear of the area. #Maybe next time.... NOT!# 

Col. Mizuno just wondered how he would explain his shame to his superiors as his wingman formed up on him and he turned for home. ---------- 

This is a side story to Wandering Moon. It started out as the opening scene to Episode 5, but was originally cut because it didn't advance the plot. I decided to finish writing it in case someone wondered just what the heck FRED and Raye were referring too... 

* A-Miles: a fictional adaptation of the US Army's Miles gear for dogfighting. 


	7. Midnight Densetsu

Typical Header Stuff: 

Even though most of these give you about as much coverage as a g-string on a stripper, I'm going to play it safe and include it anyway... 

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all characters contained within this work are the copyright of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Kodansya and probably lots of other big people I'm forgetting. I am using them without permission, but suing me because of it would be futile as I have nothing. Any characters that are not copyrighted by other people are my own creation, and therefore copyrighted by myself... which means that if for some REALLY weird reason you decided you wanted to use them, (and why would you decide that?!?!?!?) you need to write me for permission. 

Comments, Criticisms, and flames welcome... Starrngr@aol.com However, due to a large amount of spam I have received in the past, I have blocked off mail from some domains. Sorry if your one of them. Just don't expect me to reply to mail that's nothing but Flames! 

See the Character Bio for information on key people to this Fic.... 

The Wanderer: Wandering Moon: Episode 5: Midnight Densetsu 

Raye scowled as she opened the door to her room. Sure enough, everyone else (except Darien) was present. This fact did not improve her mood one bit. 

"Never thought I would see the day when Serena got to a scout meeting before Raye," quipped Artemis. 

"You know Raye better than that, Artemis. I'm sure she has a very valid reason why it took her so long," Luna chided primly. 

"As a matter of fact, I do have a good excuse. We were on a field trip today, and some crazy model builder decided to show off his latest creation by having it buzz the area. It turned the traffic into a total disaster." Raye appeared to consider this a personal affront to her dignity. 

Amy looked at her curiously. "Just what happened Raye?" 

Raye scowled. "Just what I told you. We were on a field trip near downtown when from out of nowhere this model of a jet airplane comes swooping down and scares everyone. It flew in between buildings and down the streets about three meters of the ground and generally turned everything into chaos." 

Amy continued her questioning. "What exactly did it look like? And about how big was it?" 

"About two meters long or so, and it looked like a jet fighter with two big pods on its back." 

Amy produced her pocket computer and began inputting a few commands. She then handed it over to Raye. "Did it look like this?" she inquired. 

Raye looked at the diagrams on the screen and nodded. "Except for the fact that it was colored in green and black, yes, it looked exactly like this!" 

"That is a drawing of the fighter mode of the war machines used in the Macross manga," Amy said thoughtfully. "I scanned them in after meeting that 'Star Ranger' person the day before yesterday. 'He' only stood about two meters tall, and used green and black trim as well." 

"Ahem," interrupted Luna. "While this is all very interesting, I don't see what it has to do with fighting the Negaverse. Which is somehow back again, and I don't understand how. I thought it was destroyed when Serena defeated Beryl and the Negaforce." 

"I thought it was too, Luna. I mean, we were there, in spirit anyway, and I had the feeling that when Serenity unleashed the full power of the crystal with our help everything in the Negaverse would be totally destroyed," Lita replied. 

"I'd like to know how we know its really the Negaverse," interrupted Artemis. Luna gave him a warning look, and he hurriedly continued, "I mean, all we know is that Serena saw something that looked like a you.... OUCH!!!" Whatever his point was it was lost when Luna stuck her claws into his hindquarters. This prompted Serena to spring to her own defense. 

"I may not be the brightest in school, but I got the same feeling from those things as from all the other evil I've fought since Luna found me. And they were draining energy from people. They acted like youma, and they died like youma. I don't see that it makes a difference what they are called." Luna facefaulted at the grown-up attitude Serena was showing at the moment, and wondered how long she could hope for this burst of maturity to last. 

"Its almost like we are fighting two different enemies instead of one," interjected Amy. "I mean, if it was the same person, why didn't they use another batch of those robots that gave us so much trouble?" 

"Speaking of which," inquired Mina, "why did we have so much trouble with those things? I know Amy took some readings from them, but she never really told us why she thinks they are a problem." 

"I've been thinking about that," replied Amy, "and I think its because magic and technology don't mix very well. I'm not saying its impossible, just that the two tend to be immune from the effects of the other." 

"But once we release our powers, the effects are physical, not magical," replied a much calmer Raye. "So why didn't the things melt under my Mars fire, or short circuit under Lita's Thunder crash?" 

"I think that whoever sent them had some idea of the level of our powers," replied Amy. "I think those robots were designed to survive our powers. They certainly weren't able to stand up to that 'Star Ranger' when he appeared." 

"Well, he certainly isn't a match for a youma, well, three youma at once," noted Serena. "If I hadn't been there he would have been moondust." 

"Which goes to prove my point", replied Amy. "It looks like this Star Ranger is mostly technological, power-wise. Youma are magical creatures, mostly, and the same thing would apply to him, that most of his powers wouldn't work on them. Serena did see part of their fight, and said that he was in hand to hand combat with them, rather than trying to use the lasergun he used on the spider-robots. Even if the Star Ranger was every bit as strong and fast as a youma, three on one would give them an advantage." 

"There is one thing about all this I still don't understand, though," commented Mina, "And that is why they attacked your school!" 

"I'm rather worried about that fact myself," replied Amy. "Its like they were trying to flush out either us scouts or even maybe that 'Star Ranger'. And if that's the case, I bet they decide that anytime they want to find one or the other all they'll have to do is attack Juuban Jr. High again." 

"What was that you were saying about school being the safest place for them again, Luna?" Inquired a grinning Artemis to a facefaulted Luna. 

"What worries me the most is the frequency of these attacks," continued Amy, trying valiantly to ignore a certain cat with a penchant for wisecracks. "This is the third attack in four days. Its the fastest pace of attacks that we have seen from an enemy so far. Before, we usually had a week or so between attacks. I'm worried that whoever it is may be trying to see if they can't wear us out before starting on their real plan." 

"Excuse me," interrupted Raye, "but could someone go back to the beginning and fill Mina and I in on just what DID happen today? Its not like we were there or anything." 

"You don't have to get so snotty about it, Raye," sniffed Serena, a comment which provoked one of their infamous tongue wars. Amy looked at the two and sighed, and turned to Mina and started to explain. 

"It started before school today. When I got to school, there was a note from the new teacher, Thunders-sensei, asking if I could meet with him for a few minutes before school...." 

* * * * * * * * * 

At Michael's apartment across town, FRED was letting Micheal know he was in less than a good mood. "Feel Better?" FRED inquired. From the sarcastic tone, Micheal assumed that his companion was in a fit of pique. 

"As a matter of fact, yes. I really needed to think for a bit," replied Micheal as he took a cold soda from the fridge and opened it. 

"What is with you???? You buzz the Ginzu, freak out the police, and get in a dogfight with the JSDF!!! What the heck happened to, and I quote, 'KEEPING A LOW PROFIE!?!?!?!?!?'" 

"Your not the one who darn near got his head torn off this afternoon, FRED. Who's in charge here anyway?" Micheal retorted as he settled into a chair across the room from FRED. "And speaking of which, any results on that search yet?" 

"Searches, he wants. Every single defense authority is after his hide and he wants to know about search results. Well, I got search results for you. First of all, someone just sent us a big file. Problem is, it's encrypted, and I haven't been able to decrypt it yet. No return address, and when I tried tracing back the delivery path I ran into a dead end. Secondly, for the most part, the authorities don't even want to acknowledge there is anything weird going on. Any time they get a clue, they hunt it down and ignore it. I might have found some evidence about this Tinkerer person, though. Hospital records at Juuban General indicate that there was a John Doe admitted about a year ago. Physical description matches pretty close. Treatment notes indicate that they had a bit of a problem with him at first. Badly burned, all along his right side. Didn't speak a word of Japanese." 

"Sounds like a possibility then. Who was his doctor?" 

"Dr. Emiki Mizuno," replied FRED. 

Micheal looked at the computer with amazement. "Isn't that the name of the doctor the school referred to us for those tests for Serena?" 

"Now that you mention it, yes, it is..." 

* * * * * * * * * 

"I hope the information was worth the cost," fumed a disgruntled Cabelite to the Tinkerer. "Those three Youma were some of my best." 

Tinkerer scowled at the Negaverse general. "If you were so attached to them, why did you send them?" 

"Because you assured me of their chances for success, _CRIPPLE_!!!!" 

"I assured their success only against one faction or the other. Not against them working together." 

Cabelite paused his tirade, and looked curiously at the Tinkerer. "How do you know what happened?" 

"Because it serves no point in picking a fight if one doesn't learn from it, General. I had a spyder hidden in the auditorium to record the whole incident. I wanted a record of whatever happened." 

"And this record shows our enemies working together?" inquired Cabelite. 

"If you will be calm and watch that monitor, I will show you exactly what the spyder saw, General." 

* * * * * * * * * 

"Based on that sort of evidence, I'd add two and two together and get four as well, Amy," commented Mina after hearing the whole story. 

"Unless you're Serena, in which case you get five," joked Artemis, as Serena protested that she wasn't _that_ stupid. 

"Are you sure your OK, Artemis?" inquired Mina sweetly. "Maybe I should take you to the vet and have him give you a check-up". At the mention of a visit to the vet, Artemis suddenly decided that someone needed to check the other rooms and make sure they weren't being spied on. Mina watched his retreating form with a smile. "Never fails. He hates going to the vet. Now, as we were saying, it looks like we have fairly strong evidence that the new teacher is also this Star Ranger. The real question is who's side is he on?" 

"I say we go over to his place and ask him," commented Lita, smacking her fist with her palm. "And we keep at him until we get the truth." 

"Reality check," interrupted Raye. "Why would five schoolgirls be asking a teacher if he is a spy for the Negaverse? He's not stupid, like Odango Atama here." 

"I am _not_ stupid Raye," protested Serena. 

"Who said anything about asking while we were in our normal clothes?" retorted Lita, although by that point Raye was no longer listening, being engaged in a glaring contest with Serena. 

"I'm not sure that's wise," commented Amy. "If he's not on our side we could be walking into a trap." 

"I don't think so," countered Mina. "How would he know we were coming? Besides, if we timed it to surprise him right when he came home, I don't think he would have a chance to do anything." 

"Well, I'm glad that's settled," interjected Serena. "Now we can get on to other stuff, like where we should go tommorow since Juuban will be closed. And come to think of it, tommorow is Darien's day off, too!" At that comment, everyone facefaulted. 

* * * * * * * * * 

"Well, it would appear that you were at least partially correct, cripple," commented Cabelite as the screen went black. "This Star Ranger you seem to fear did not do well against my youma at all. If that silly Sailor Moon hadn't interfered, he would be history now. And if he hadn't interfered, my youma could have taken out Sailor Moon." 

"And this is all you see in that tape, general?" Inquired Tinkerer with scorn in his voice. 

"Yes. All that we need to do now is find a way to attack both of them at once, so they can't help each other." 

Tinkerer sighed. 'An entire dimension from which to find a cats-paw and I get an idiot.' "Then let me spell it out for you. Based on how quickly the attack was detected, at least one, possibly more, of our enemies is associated with that school. If we want to operate undisturbed, we attack during times when that school is in session. And when we are ready to eliminate them, we attack them there before they know what is happening." 

"And what do you propose we do for our attack? If they are working together, one or the other seems capable of defeating anything we have thrown at them so far." 

Tinkerer glared at the Negaverse general. "I do have a thought as to that fact. I've noticed that technology and magic don't mix well, but it is possible. Ergo, we take one of your strongest youma, and augment him with technology. Sailor Moon's magic should be countered by the technology and the Star Ranger should be helpless against the youma's magic based powers." 

Cabelite considered this plan for a moment, obviously unconvinced. "Would you rather attack them the way we are, until we are defeated piecemeal? Where is your grand plan to accomplish what your ex-queen couldn't then?" goaded Tinkerer. 

After a long moment, Cabelite gave a nod of agreement. "For a cripple, your idea still has merit. How long will it take to implement it?" 

"A month minimum, possibly more. Since the two don't readily mix I can't give you a more accurate estimate. I need you to keep our enemies distracted until then. And we will still need energy. Remember what we learned. The best times to attack are while they will be in school, and preferably nowhere near their school as well." 

* * * * * * * * * 

Patricia Haruna's heart stopped for the tiniest moment at the sight of Micheal in a tuxedo, as it brought back memories of being attacked. Then she admitted to herself that he looked quite elegant in it. From the way he was fidgeting, it appeared Micheal feel more foolish than elegant. 

"Well, its nice to see that I'm not going to be overdressed," he commented with a smile as he openly admired her. Patricia was wearing a low cut velvet burgundy dress with thin shoulder straps. At her ears were emerald teardrops and a string of pearls about her neck. The dress itself was cut on the bias, and helped to accentuate her lovely figure. "I take it we are not going to the local sushi bar then, ne?" he concluded, a line that got him that sour look she usually saved for poor students and a smack from her clutch purse. Micheal was able to salvage the situation by offering her his arm for the walk down to the car. 

"I'm rather pleasantly surprised, Micheal. I must admit that I was a little worried that YOU would be underdressed," she commented as Micheal helped her into his car. "I definitely didn't expect you to show up in a tuxedo." 

Micheal grinned as he trotted around to the other side and climbed in. "I can't take any of the credit. It was my next door neighbors suggestion. I think he was trying to have a touch of fun with me too. I wound up calling all over town looking for a place who's tuxedos included cape, top hat, and cane." He started the car, and had to wait for a moment before pulling out since his car was pointed the wrong way, a deliberate choice since he wanted Patricia to be able to get in the passenger side, but the driver's controls were on the wrong side of the car for Japan. 

"I must admit it would be easier if you didn't have this huge american car tonight. Its not exactly going to be easy getting in and out of this monstrosity. What is it with you Americans and big cars?" 

Micheal grinned at that one. "There is an American saying that the only difference between the men and the boys is the size of our toys. Actually, I had a different reason though. There have been times I'll be going places where there aren't any roads. This Hummvee can handle just about any terrain I throw at it. Although it helps if I know where I'm going." 

Patricia smiled and gave him an address in a very upscale district of Tokyo. "Its owned by a friend of mine from college, otherwise we could never have gotten a table. I've never really had a chance to go there before." Micheal managed to conceal the shudder he felt well enough that Patricia didn't notice it. 

* * * * * * * * * 

Micheal looked at the menu and sighed. There were no prices listed on the menu, which in his experience translated into 'If you have to ask, you can't afford it!' He just hoped that whoever it was that had given him that American Express Platinum card didn't have a stroke when they saw the bill for this. Still, He expected that he could convince whoever it was that had brought him here that it was a legitimate expense, since this meal was sort of a bribe to find out just what was the real state of affairs in the Juuban district. Regardless of if he wound up paying for the dinner himself later, the way Patricia was dressed was worth the cost. For all of his dislike of formal wear, he was glad he had taken Darien's advice. Quite a few of the other patrons were wearing tuxedos, even if he was the only one that had the whole bit with cape, hat, and cane. 

It reminded him a bit of the ritzy nightclubs of the thirties and forties, actually. The tables were arranged in a horseshoe around a dance floor, and he could see band members beginning to file in and warm up for their first set. White and Ivory dominated the decor, but the true declaration of the opulence of the place was its size. Square footage in Tokyo was expensive, so most places were small and compact, maximizing the use of every inch. Not so here, with each table spaced far enough apart that one didn't have to rely on other peoples good manners to keep one's conversations private. The only catch was that the menu was in Kanji rather than Kana so he was having trouble reading it. He knew how to get around that particular problem, though. 

* * * * * * * * * 

Luna was busy giving Serena 'The Look.' "Let me make sure I understand this. You want me to go over and spy on Darien's next door neighbor and see if he is a spy for the Negaverse." 

"That's right Luna. You agreed that we needed to know if Thunders-sensei is one of our enemies, and this is the perfect chance. Even if he sees you he'd never guess a you could understand every word he says." 

'Why does she choose times like this to show some maturity?' Luna wondered to herself as she facefaulted. 'Its going to be cold out on that balcony'. "And what am I supposed to do if he does notice me?" 

"You'll be fine Luna. He isn't going to be home for a while yet, and when he does get home, I don't think eavesdroppers are going to be on his mind. I saw him pulling out of the building as Darien and I were coming in, and Darien said Thunders-sensei told him had a big date tonight." 

Luna sighed as it became apparent that she wasn't going to be able to dissuade Serena from her plan. 'But there's no way I'm going to be spending all night on that balcony alone!' 

* * * * * * * * * 

Artemis shivered and snuggled up closer to Luna. "Explain to me again why we are sitting out here on a hard cold balcony instead of sleeping on a nice warm bed?" 

"I'm here to see if I can learn anything about this Thunders person. Your here because I'm not going to sit out in the cold alone." 

"So you just wanted me along for my hot body," Artemis deadpanned, "are you sure you don't want me to light your fire as well?" At that comment Luna facefaulted and smacked him. 

* * * * * * * * * 

Luna awoke to the sound of a door closing, and chided herself for falling asleep. She gently nudged Artemis awake as their quarry came into view. 

"Any new messages while I was out?" Micheal inquired as he carefully undressed, hanging up the rented tuxedo. Luna gave Artemis a puzzled look at that question, as he was obviously alone. The look became one of surprise when he received an answer. 

"One phone message, logging in to check e-mail." Then the voice became that of Patricia Haruna's, as Luna realized that whatever was doing the talking was now playing back the phone message. 

"Its Patricia, and I just wanted to call and say thanks again for the wonderful evening," Patricia's message said. "I'm sorry about the check, I didn't think it was going to be that expensive. And I'd kind of like to do it again sometime soon, only maybe someplace not as expensive. In case you've lost the number, its 555-9390". 

While the message played, Micheal ducked into the bedroom. The mysterious voice changed back to its original rich baritone and continued. "One new e-mail message, no return address, same bounce path as the last one. Timestamp indicates it was delivered about 5 minutes ago. Message reads as follows; Don't you think 20,000 yen for a dinner date is a bit excessive? Please try and moderate charges to your expense account. PS, If your having trouble with the key to that file, think about it. I know you'll figure it out." 

At this point Micheal returned from the bedroom wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt. He hung up the tuxedo trousers and carefully placed the components back in the garment bag for return to the tuxedo rental shop. As he hung it up he suddenly slapped his head. "D'OH!!!! That's the password! Try 'Think about it', FRED." It was as he sat down at the computer that the two cats realized where the disembodied voice was coming from. 

"It's not working, Muck," the computer commented. 

"That's because you entered the key in Romanji, baka. Try it in English." 

"Bingo," the computer exalted, and suddenly text began to fill up on the computer screen. Luna jumped up on the edge of the balcony, and was just able to make out some of the text over Michael's shoulder. What she saw did nothing for her composure. 

'Over a thousand years ago, the solar system was at peace. By harnessing magic, humanity was able to colonize all the planets of the Sol system. It was a time of great prosperity, and had endured for over a thousand years. It was known as the Silver Millennium, and the heart of it all was the Moon Kingdom...' 

---------------------- 

Coming Soon: Chapter 6: Revelations 


	8. Revelations

Typical Header Stuff: 

Even though most of these give you about as much coverage as a g-string on a stripper, I'm going to play it safe and include it anyway... 

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all characters contained within this work are the copyright of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Kodansya, DiC, and probably lots of other big people I'm forgetting. I am using them without permission, but suing me because of it would be futile as I have nothing. Also Certain characters mentioned in the prologue are the copyrighted property of John De Chance. Any characters that are not copyrighted by other people are my own creation, and therefore copyrighted by myself... which means that if for some REALLY weird reason you decided you wanted to use them, (and why would you decide that?!?!?!?) you need to write me for permission. 

Comments, Criticisms, and flames welcome... Starrngr@aol.com However, due to a large amount of spam I have received in the past, I have blocked off mail from some domains. Sorry if your one of them. And don't expect me to reply to mail that's nothing but Flames! 

See the Character Bio for information on key people to this Fic.... 

---------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Note: Fica is a term I have invented to represent an entire dimension. It can basically be considered a plural of the term Ficton, created by Robert Heinlein, which means a specific place in space/time. 

The Wanderer: Wandering Moon: Episode Six: Revelations 

Micheal awoke to the sun shining in through the balcony doors. He had fallen asleep in the computer chair while reading the mysterious file that had shown up in his e-mail the day before. He stood and stretched to try and get the worst of the kinks out and stumbled for the kitchen. He switched off the timer and started the coffeepot brewing while he mused about everything he had learned the previous night. 

This dimension had five re-incarnated princesses from over a thousand years ago running around fighting evil. At least he now had names to go with the faces he had run into several days before at the Shinto shrine. Sailor Scouts seemed reasonably appropriate, since their uniforms bore as much resemblance to a sailor suit as the school uniforms did. The other side's forces seemed to be lead by Tinkerer and a deposed general Tinkerer had recruited from the past. At least, that was the case according to the file whoever it was sent him. 

By now the coffee was ready, and Micheal absentmindedly poured himself a cup. He started to take a sip, but noticed in time that it was still to hot to drink. He reached into the freezer and pulled out an ice cube and dropped it into the hot coffee. He carried his coffee out to the balcony, not noticing a certain black tail sticking out from under the chair. That is, until he stepped on it. 

"MRRRROOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!" wailed Luna, as the pain of having her tail stepped on woke her instantly. Her flailing woke up Artemis with a howl as well. The wailing of the two cats ripped suddenly from sleep startled Micheal, who jumped back off of Luna's tail, causing him to spill his coffee on himself and adding a human cry of pain to the wailing of the two moon cats. The two moon cats reacted to this sudden awakening in unfamiliar surroundings instinctively, by running, without realizing that the only place to run to was into Micheal's apartment. 

In the next door apartment, Darien Chiba lay and dreamed of his eternal love, when suddenly howling and screaming intruded into his dreams, instantly awakening him. He darted onto his balcony, looking for the attacking forces. Instead, he saw a startled Micheal, most of a cup of coffee saturating his neighbors shirt. 

"What's going on?" Darien grumped as it became apparent that whatever was going on was not an attack he needed to worry about. 

"I think I stepped on a cat... but how did a cat get on my balcony?" wondered a very bewildered Michael. 

"Um, I'm supposed to take Serena and her best friend's cats to the vet today for them. They must have gotten out and jumped over to your balcony," Darien quickly improvised to cover the two cats scouting mission. "Where did they go?" 

"I believe they are in the kitchen," supplied FRED from his supposed location on the desktop. "At least I detected a black and white streak run past me in that direction." 

"Might as well come over and get 'em, Darien," sighed Micheal. "I doubt either of them will let me within ten feet of them right now." 

As predicted, the two cats were found cowering in the corner of Micheal's kitchen. Micheal was rather surprised at how readily the two felines responded to Darien's call. Moments later Darien and the two moon cats were safely back in Darien's apartment, and Luna was informing Darien of just how much their neighbor knew about them now. 

In his own apartment next door, Micheal looked down at his coffee soaked shirt and sighed. He shrugged out of his wet clothes climbed into the shower. As the warm water poured over him, he returned to his inner turmoil. He was clearly meant to assist these young Sailor Scout girls, but he was unsure as to just what that assistance was supposed to be. From the descriptions given, the things that had attacked the school that he was unable to defeat had been Youma, servants of the first enemy of the moon kingdom. In addition to this, the Tinkerer, an old enemy of his, had been blasted into this fica by the same accident that had thrown him from their home dimension. And from the way the spyders had attacked the sailor scout girls, he was probably allied with the forces of that enemy. 

These thoughts and others continued to drift in and out of his thoughts as he continued his morning routine. It was as he stood out on his balcony finishing his coffee, uninterrupted this time, that he made a key realization. Always before, he had preferred to stay out of events in any particular fica, unless it has affected him directly. And yet, here he was helping a failing student, and looking forward to a new battle with an old enemy. 

He pondered the question of why this change had occurred, and the answer surprised him. He had been jumping from fica to fica in an attempt to find his way home for months now, and was getting tired of it. He looked at why he had been so anxious to return to his home fica, and the answer was Jedi. The two had just admitted their attraction to each other not long before Micheal, as Star Ranger, had been blasted from his home fica by the explosion. Always before, he had wanted to jump out of a fica as fast as FRED could compute portal co-ordinates that would most likely lead them home. Objectively, the chances of getting back to Jedi eventually were getting better. However, the chances that she would be waiting for him were not. She probably assumed he had died in the blast, and had moved on. Even if he found his home fica soon, there was no real way of knowing exactly where in the timeline he would emerge. He might arrive decades after the accident, and Jedi would have long forgotten him, or even have had died. Against that dream, Patricia Haruna was here now, in this fica. Despite his best intentions, Micheal realized that he had grown quite attached to the red headed teacher. The thought of could he bear to settle down with her and stop dimension jumping came back with a single disturbing answer... YES. 

* * * * * * * * * 

Serena Tsukino was barreling at full speed towards the intersection when disaster struck. Her feet hit a slick spot on the pavement and she went skidding out of control, right at the large black car that was about to make a turn at the corner in front of her. 

"Yeiiiii..." she started to yell in panic before slamming into the side of the car with a thud, and falling backwards. She looked up to see Thunders-sensei looking out the car window at her. His face was a interesting mixture of emotion, surprise and resignation being the most evident. 

"Are you all right, Ms. Tsukino?" Micheal asked, getting out of the car. 

"I'm fine, Sensei," Serena assured him as she got to her feet, struggling to catch her breath. "But now I'm going to be soooo late!!!" 

"Not to worry, Ms. Tsukino. Hop in, and I'll give you a ride the rest of the way," Micheal replied with a grin. Serena climbed into the car, suddenly understanding why Haruna-sensei had needed help getting in the other day because it was much higher off the ground than most cars. She slid over to the passenger side, and Micheal climbed in after her. 

Serena looked at the dashboard of the car and became even more curious over all the buttons on it. Finally, curiosity got the better of her and she felt compelled to ask about it. "Sensei, why is your steering wheel on the wrong side of the car?" 

Micheal laughed at the innocent question. "I brought my car with me, Ms. Tsukino. We drive on the other side of the road there. And, before you ask, not all cars in America are this high off the road, either. I bought this one because I go places where there aren't any roads sometimes and that's why it's so big. Most cars in America are very similar to the ones you see everyday." 

"Well, your dashboard is wicked cool, Sensei. Do all American cars have this much stuff in them?" Serena was amazed by the large number of lights and buttons and the like. 

"No, Ms. Tsukino. I have a lot of special electronic stuff in my car that most people don't. Things like satellite navigation receivers and the like." Micheal turned into the school parking lot, glad for the opportunity to change the topic of conversation. "And here we are, and your early for once. And since you've started the day on the right foot, lets try and behave, OK Ms. Tsukino?" 

"Yes, Sensei," Serena bubbled brightly as she hopped out of his car and ran off to the front of the school. Micheal shook his head bemusedly at the exuberance and innocence of youth and reached over the seat for his briefcase. 

"Are you dumb, or just obtuse this morning?" Inquired FRED, his tone sarcastic. 

"Neither, you rolling opinion maker," Micheal replied. 

"Do you know who you just had in the car with you?" 

"Yup. Serena Tsukino, one of my students." Micheal glared at the dashboard interface to FRED. "Who did you think she was, anyway?" 

"Try Sailor Moon, AKA Princess Serena of the long dead moon kingdom. You know, the one we got a huge file about the other night?" 

Micheal looked at his traveling companion with a look of disbelief. "I think I'm going to have to run a diagnostic on you this afternoon FRED. I think you've blown a logic circuit somewhere. I've got to get to class now, baka." Micheal got out of the car and slammed the door, effectively ending the conversation for the moment. As Micheal walked away into the school building FRED compared the two images in his memory again, the blurry one of Sailor Moon from that Saturday at the Shinto shrine and the crystal sharp image of Serena Tsukino from moments ago. 

'The face on the one is too blurry, but the two hairstyles are an exact match. And I've yet to see anyone else wearing their hair like that,' FRED thought to himself as he wondered how he would get Micheal to understand. 

* * * * * * * * * 

As the lunch bell rang, Amy Mizuno began gathering her books to go to lunch when her teacher indicated that he wanted her to stay for a moment. 

"What is it you want to see me about, Thunders-sensei?" she inquired politely after the rest of the class had left. 

"I need you to pass on a message for me, Ms. Mizuno. The doctor who is going to do the tests on Ms. Tsukino called yesterday afternoon. She had a change in her schedule, and she is going to be coming in this afternoon to do the tests. Would you please tell Ms. Tsukino that?" 

"Yes, Thunders-Sensei. Is there anything else?" 

"Yes, there is. Its a gorgeous day outside. Why not enjoy it instead of spending lunch with your nose in a book like you usually do?" 

Amy gave her teacher a funny look and a small sweat drop appeared behind her head. "I'll take it under advisement, Sensei." 

Micheal sighed to himself. "OK then. Go on to lunch, and I'll see you after school with Ms. Tsukino for her tests." 'What does it take to get that girl to relax?????' he wondered as he watched her leave the classroom. 'How can I get her to realize that there is more to life than getting good grades?' Tabling that thought for the moment, he turned his attention back to his other duties as a teacher. Walking across the hall, he stuck his head into Patricia Haruna's classroom. 

"Ready to face the ravening hordes?" he inquired. 

"Ah, you've obviously seen Serena Tsukino eating," she replied brightly as she locked the last of her papers in her desk. "Yes, I'm ready." 

"Great. Why don't we sneak off after and do lunch since we are both off fifth period. Maybe discuss going somewhere Friday night?" 

Patricia's eyes grew very large at the thought. "Yes, I think I would like that." 

* * * * * * * * * 

Cabelite stared at the small scrying globe. Because of its size, it was not able to pick out fine details. However, this same fact meant that it didn't require much energy to use. This suited Cabelite's needs nicely, as he was more concerned with looking for locations where large numbers of people gathered as possible sites for energy raids than discerning fine details. 

An evil grin crossed his face over what he saw. 'These humans are such foolish creatures. This tendency of theirs to gather at these 'malls' will make it all together to easy to gather all the energy my troops need. Enough energy to defeat our enemies and put that infuriating cripple in his place.' He waved his hand and the globe cleared and slowly lowered itself back onto its resting stand while Cabelite planned his attack. 

* * * * * * * * * 

Serena and Lita were already camped out in Serena's favorite spot by the time Amy arrived. Amy smiled to herself as she watched her best friend and leader demolish the lunch she had brought. 

"Hi Amy," Lita waved as the blue haired girl sat down. "As you can see, Serena decided to start without you. What kept you?" 

"Thunders-sensei asked me to stay behind for a moment. He asked me to deliver a message for Serena. He said that the person who is going to give Serena those tests he wants her to take is coming in this afternoon." 

"Rats," sighed Serena. "I was hoping to convince him to let Amy work with me at home this afternoon since I didn't get detention for being late. No chance of that now." 

"We have bigger problems than you needing to take some tests, Serena," came a voice from above them. After a second careful look around to make sure no one was in earshot, Luna jumped down from her concealment in the tree above them, a very serious look on her face. "Your teacher knows almost everything about us." 

"What are you talking about Luna?" interjected a confused Lita. 

"Exactly what I said. Last night after he came home, from a date with Haruna-sensei no less, he opened some sort of file on his computer that told him everything about us." 

"Everything?" asked a shocked Amy. 

"Almost everything. It contained a history of the fall of the moon kingdom, plus a list of all of you scouts and your powers, as well as a history of your fight against the Negaverse and those two tree aliens. The only thing it didn't have is your civilian identities, but I doubt it will be long before he figures them out." 

"Is there any chance that he could have dug up the information from public sources?" Amy continued. 

"Not a chance. That file had information that only a scout would know, like the fake Sailor Moon incident, and what happened to you girls in the final battle with Beryl." Luna turned a steely gaze at Amy. "That strange computer of his SAID someone sent it to him. That means one of us told him everything!" 

Amy returned Luna's accusing gaze calmly. "I don't see how you could think one of us told him everything. Besides, I'm the only one of us who even has a computer and I know I didn't send him anything." 

"Well, I'm glad this particular mystery is settled." Two girls and a cat looked at Lita in a state of shock. "Don't you guys get it? If he was the enemy he wouldn't have to be told anything about us. All he would care about is finishing us off. He hasn't even attacked us, even though he has had a couple of perfect opportunities. I say someone sent him here to help us, and that file was so that he would know who he is supposed to help." 

"I think that's a very shaky leap of faith, Lita," replied Luna, "I think we need to discuss the import of this as a complete group. That includes Darien, Serena. Since Darien is his next door neighbor maybe he can give us some additional insight into the whole matter." 

"I'll call him, but I don't think he'll be available until this evening Luna," Serena promised. 

"I can't be there until after dinner," chimed in Amy. "My mom asked me to hang around after school today because she had some business in the area and was going to pick me up after and take me to dinner." 

"Then it sounds like an after dinner meeting at Raye's, then," concluded Lita. The assembled company nodded in agreement, and Luna leapt back into the tree and vanished. 

* * * * * * * * * 

When Micheal and Patricia arrived at the food court at the local mall, Micheal was surprised at the level of pandemonium. The source was readily apparent, being a huge crowd around the sign reading "Free Pizza". Ever the individualist, Micheal looked at Patricia and asked "So, does Chinese sound good to you?" 

"Not exactly, but I don't want to fight that crowd around that Pizza place either," she replied. Deep in her subconscious, something about this seemed all to familiar, and alarm bells began to ring. "How about that place over there? I know its got kind of an Anime theme, but the food's pretty good." Patricia indicated an onkyami establishment that had a tie in with a popular anime series, right down to the super deformed versions of the characters all on the sign. 

Micheal nodded and the pair began to make their way across the food court when the pair consciously noticed the first signs of something wrong. The tables were jammed with people, almost all of whom were having pizza. Most of them were sitting almost zombielike, though, half eaten slices of pizza forgotten on the tables in front of them. Patricia began to become nervous, and Micheal figured he knew why. From the looks of it, this had all the signs of an attack by whoever it was he was supposed to be fighting, something that Patricia would have been caught by in the past. 

"Suddenly I feel more like sushi, Patricia... How about that little place by the school?" With a nervous nod, Patricia agreed and the pair began to make their way out of the food court, when suddenly their path was blocked. The person doing the blocking was a rather extreme charecature of a stereotypical Italian chef, short, overweight, with a red complexion, slicked back black hair and a large black handlebar mustache. 

"Wazza matta U, Eh? You gotta something againsta my pizza?", the figure demanded indignantly. 

"Gee, if you put it that way," Micheal stalled, nonchalantly grabbing a soda cup of the table next to him, "Hell YES!!" With that, he splashed the contents of the cup into the figures face and the he and Patricia took off at an angle. 

The pizza cook gave off an inhuman snarl, and Micheal bet that the thing was taking on a more monstrous shape, although he didn't look over his shoulder to confirm it. 

"Insolent bug," an inhuman voice screamed from behind them. "I'll Pasta the walls with you!" Micheal ignored it for the moment, as he and Patricia reached relative safety, diving behind the counter of onakayami establishment. Over their heads, something warm and sticky slammed into the back wall of the stall. 

Micheal looked up at the gob of white goo splattered on the wall behind them. "Mozzarella," he declared. "I've heard of cheesy situations, but this is ridiculous!" He spied the counter attendant, huddled up in the corner cowering in fear. "Hey kid, is there a back way out of here?" The young college student shook his head no. 

Micheal sighed. "OK kid. This is what we're going do then. I'll distract that thing, and you and the lady here make a break for it. Get the heck out of here and call the police or someone. I'll be right behind you as soon as you two are safe." 

"But Micheal!" Patricia protested. "That thing will make meatballs out of you." 

"Patricia, I happen to like you. A lot. That means I need to make sure you're safe first. Then I'll run like heck. Besides, god smiles on idiots and crazy gaijin." He wiggled his mustache and eyebrows comically and mimed having a cigar in one hand, summoning up his best Groucho Marx impersonation. "And as far as gaijin go, I'm crazier than most," he deadpanned. Patricia gave him a dirty look, but nodded her head in agreement. 

Micheal lead the break from cover, running into the midst of the food court zombies shouting, "Hey, meatball head!!! You couldn't hit the broad side of a barn!!". His suspicions were correct, for the pizza chef had in fact become quite demonic, with blue skin and adorned mostly in Italian foods. It also seemed to have suddenly become female. The youma snarled and hurled a large number of small spheres at him, causing him to dive for cover under a table. Since the creature's first attack, Micheal had been struggling to avoid transforming in response to the stress of the situation. Now, he released his will and allowed himself to shimmer into his Star Ranger form. The small spheres rained down around him, exploding on contact with the ground and tables like mini grenades. 

"Ah, now that's a spicy meatball, eh?" exulted his attacker. In response, the now transformed Star Ranger burst to his feet, tossing the table to one side. The Shockwave launcher under one arm chuffed, and the telekinetic blast struck the youma and drove it deeply into the far wall of the food court between two storefronts. 

"You're not to hot, so I think I'll stay in the kitchen," taunted Star Ranger as the youma struggled to free itself from the wall. 

>>Youma energy signals confirmed. Standard tactics will be ineffective.<<

<> "Star shield summons!!", Star Ranger shouted, inwardly wondering why magic commands always had to be shouted. The artifact from another fica materialized on his arm with a flash of light. Star Ranger clipped his gun to his back and drew the Star sword from the shield. 

"Linguiniasso!", the youma shouted, shooting ribbons of pasta from its arm at him, clearly free of the wall sooner than expected. Parrying the attack with the Star shield, the pasta blast broke apart into many small noodles upon striking the shield. These smaller noodles radiated from the surface of the Star shield like a sunburst, continuing to grow and trying to wrap around him and envelop him. A timely slash with the Star sword severed their connection to the youma with one stroke, causing the noodles to drop lifeless to the floor. 

"Abondanza!!" the youma screamed, charging into hand to hand range. It was using a large stick of pepperoni as a sword and a pizza for a shield. Although its weapons were inferior to Star Ranger's, it could regenerate them at will, and was skilled enough to keep Star Ranger from landing a killing blow. As the two continued to trade blows, it was all Star Ranger could do to maneuver the fight out of the food court into the mall proper in the hopes of minimizing the danger to innocent bystanders. Behind him, he never noticed the blue glow that surrounded the unlucky food court patrons, draining them of their energy and causing them to drop limply to the ground. 

Cabelite grinned at the size of the energy ball from the patrons. 'And that _cripple_ thinks he can do better. A few more attacks like this and I won't need _HIM_ any more!' "Come, Barilla! Our job here is finished!" he called through an open skylight. Youma Barilla launched one more furious attack to push Star Ranger back a bit before leaping up to join its master. "Better luck next time, Tin Man," the Negaverse general taunted before disappearing in a flash of light. Star Ranger cursed to himself and shimmered back into Micheal Thunders, just before Patricia Haruna came around the corner into the food court, throwing her arms around him. 

"Thank goodness your all right," she exclaimed with relief. "When you weren't right behind us I was so worried!" 

"I may be a gaijin, but I know when to hide, Patricia," Micheal responded lightly. "Come on, lets get out of here. If we aren't gone when the police show, they're going ask us so many questions we'll be late getting back." Patricia nodded in agreement, and snuggled up close to Micheal as they made their way out of the mall. 

* * * * * * * * * 

Serena looked at the clock and sighed. She really was trying to pay attention to the work Thunders-sensei was describing, but she just couldn't concentrate. Her mind kept turning back to Luna's lunch time revelation, and Lita's interpretation of it. She wished time wouldn't drag so, because the sooner school was over, the sooner she could take those tests for Thunders-sensei and go home. She suddenly became aware of the fact that someone was kneeling next to her desk. She tore her eyes from the clock, and blushed as she realized that it was Thunders-sensei, his arms folded on her desk and giving her a very bemused look. The rest of the class was pointedly looking elsewhere, causing her blush to deepen further. 

"I realize its a gorgeous day outside, Ms. Tsukino, but please try and give me five more minutes to make sure you get the homework assignment copied down correctly, OK?" he asked. Serena was only able to nod mutely, her shame stealing her voice. The last few minutes went quickly as she intently copied the assignment on the board into her notebook for later. Finally, the bell rang and she quickly packed up her books so she could leave as soon as she was done with the tests. No sooner than the last of the class had filed out, than a mature woman appeared in the door to the classroom. 

"This is Micheal Thunder's classroom, is it not?", she inquired politely. 

"Ah, Dr. Mizuno, I presume. Yes, your in the right place. This is Serena Tsukino, the student I would like to have tested." As he finished explaining, he got this sinking feeling that there was something going on here that he didn't know about. The looks being exchanged between Ms. Tsukino and Dr. Mizuno seemed to indicate that they knew each other. 

"Oh!" A startled Amy Mizuno appeared in the doorway. "Hi Mom! Why didn't you say that your business this afternoon was here in school?" 

"Because it would have violated Doctor/Client confidentiality, dear. And if I had realized that it was your friend Serena I was going to be testing I would have told you even less." 

Micheal's face was a picture of disbelief as he tried to compute the odds of this happening. He stopped and sighed as the number crossed a million to one and kept climbing. "I guess we should give you some privacy for your tests then, Doctor?", he inquired. 

"That is the standard procedure Thunders-san. In fact, you can go on home, if you don't have anything else to do here. I'll send the results to the school office once I have them. Amy, I'll meet you in the library when I am done here, all right?" 

"No problem Mom," she replied, as teacher and student left the classroom. All the way down to his car Micheal wondered what vengeful god he had irritated for these strange things to be happening to him. 

--------- 

Coming eventually: Episode 7: In the trenches. 

I guess you could say this is the sort of episode that happens when one has to much pizza before going to bed while working on your fan-fic! 


	9. Alliances and Enemies

Typical Header Stuff: 

Even though most of these give you about as much coverage as a g-string on a stripper, I'm going to play it safe and include it anyway... 

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all characters contained within this work are the copyright of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Kodansya, DiC, and probably lots of other big people I'm forgetting. I am using them without permission, but suing me because of it would be futile as I have nothing. Also Certain characters mentioned in the prologue are the copyrighted property of John De Chance. Any characters that are not copyrighted by other people are my own creation, and therefore copyrighted by myself... which means that if for some REALLY weird reason you decided you wanted to use them, (and why would you decide that?!?!?!?) you need to write me for permission. 

Comments, Criticisms, and flames welcome... Starrngr@aol.com However, due to a large amount of spam I have received in the past, I have blocked off mail from some domains. Sorry if your one of them. And don't expect me to reply to mail that's nothing but Flames! 

See the Character Bio for information on key people to this Fic.... 

---------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The Wanderer: Wandering Moon: Episode 7: Alliances and Enemies 

Juuban district was held in a grip of fear. For the past two weeks, cases of the dreaded Juuban syndrome had been popping up left and right, every other day or so. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the cases either. Medical doctors hunted for a common denominator in all the cases but found none. The only thing victims had in common were being in a particular place, and that place and time changed from outbreak to outbreak. Many people began to stay at home as much as possible. Some, who could afford it, looked into moving away. Still others decided that they were not going to let fear affect their life and carried on as normal. 

Gathered that Friday afternoon at the Cherry Hill Temple, (As it was popularly known, for some reason. Its real name was the Hikawa Shrine) were another group who knew exactly what was going on. The purpose of the meeting was to decide what to do about it. To a casual observer, it would seem strange that such a task fell to five young teenage girls. To those who knew the whole truth (of which there were seven... the same seven present at this meeting), the item of paramount concern was that they had been unable to stop the attacks before the attackers had come and gone. 

"There has to be a way to counteract these latest attacks," declared Luna. "I suppose it was inevitable that our enemies would change their strategy, but its most distressing that they finally did so." 

"I agree that the timing is inconvenient at best", concurred Artemis, "but what did you expect? For them to just blindly attack only during times when we were able to stop them?" 

"Why they changed their patterns isn't important," declared Lita Kino thumping the low table with her fist, "what's important is finding a way to stop them!" 

"Which is why we are here," Luna reminded everyone. 

"About the best thing I've come up with so far is for the girls to come down with something nasty and contagious," observed Artemis. 

"There isn't any way we could pull that off," noted Amy. "We would have to bring our parents in on our secret. There is no way we could pretend to be sick for a week or more without the school telling our parents about it anyway." 

"Ugh. I don't even want to think about what my folks would say about that!" noted Serena. "Especially since I failed another test today. Dad would probably ground me for a year," she sighed. 

"And that would put a serious crimp in your ability to conduct sailor business," added Luna. 

"Another test?" questioned Mina. "I thought Thunders-sensei gave you some drills to help you with your problems." 

"That assumes odango-atama here remembers to do them," snorted Raye in reply. 

"That's not true," countered Amy. "Serena does remember to do her drills, because I help her with them. But you can't expect miracles so soon. If for no other reason, she has a bit of background to catch up on, that she learned incorrectly in the first place." 

"And Serena's learning disabilities are not the topic of this meeting," Luna chided primly. "We still need a way to be able to counter this new attack pattern." 

"Maybe if everyone took a turn at being sick?" wondered Artemis, still trying to come up with a decent plan. "It wouldn't be quite as noticeable." 

"It would still require parental notes for those days," Mina responded. "And it wouldn't work for very long, cause the school administrators would get curious about a student who is always absent one day a week." 

"I think it would be rather too dangerous, anyway," Amy noted. "They have had several successful attacks with which to gain energy. That would make the youma that much stronger and more dangerous. A lone scout trying to fight one of them could get seriously hurt, or even killed." 

"But it wouldn't have to be for too long," objected Raye. "Just long enough to let the rest of us know where they are so we can help out." 

"That's assuming we can sneak out of class, too." noted Lita. "A few lengthy 'potty' breaks and I doubt the teachers would let us out of their sight!" 

"Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll close the schools," bubbled Serena. "An extended vacation would just be so cool!" 

"I don't know about that, Serena," noted Amy. "It could have an adverse affect on our grades." 

"I don't see how it could make Serena's grades any worse than they are", observed Raye. 

"Hey! I am trying. And those drills Thunders-sensei gave me are helping. Just not enough yet," replied Serena in a wavering tone, clearly about to burst into tears. 

"Its a nice thought, but we cant count on it happening," declared Luna. "We need some sort of plan to handle this in case they don't." 

"You know, suddenly I'm not feeling to well," commented Lita with a grin. "You don't suppose its a case of Juuban syndrome? One that might take a week or more to get over?" 

Amy looked up and nodded in agreement with what Lita was suggesting. "I think she has a point," she decided. "Of all of us, she would have the least trouble pulling it off. After all..." Any further comment Amy might have made was silenced by a discreet jab to the ribs by Mina. 

"After all," Mina picked up, to divert the conversation away from Lita's dead parents, "Lita is the strongest fighter of all of us. She would have the best chance of slowing these creeps down until the rest of us arrive and Serena can moondust em without getting hurt." 

"I don't really like this," Serena objected. "Amy just said it could be dangerous, and I don't think I could live with myself if Lita got hurt doing this." 

"If you have a better idea, lets hear it," replied Luna. Serena thought for a long moment and then hung her head, admitting defeat. "I don't like it that much either, Serena," she continued, "but for now its the only plan we have. You're going to have to accept the fact that sometimes people you care about must go in harm's way." 

"That doesn't mean I have to like it," grumbled Serena. Then an idea struck and her normal exuberant personality re-emerged. "Hey, why don't we go out and catch a movie together then? It would be just the thing to get our minds off this problem. I hear they have a new movie from America opening tonight." 

"How can you think of something like that at a time like this?" Demanded Raye. 

"Actually, its a very good idea." countered Amy. "It would give Lita a valid excuse for having come down with Juuban syndrome." Raye glared at Amy for a moment, and then hung her head in defeat. 

"GREAT!" exulted Serena. "This is going to be fun!" 

* * * * * * * * * 

Cabelite sat back in the room he used as an office and smiled. For a cripple, the Tinkerer had been amazingly perceptive. Over the past two weeks, he had been able to raid for energy almost at will. This had increased the power of his forces to an acceptable level. In fact, he would have been quite near having enough energy to awaken his queen's precious Negaforce. Not that the Negaforce had been that much use against these scouts anyway, according to Tinkerer. In that, Cabelite had no faith in his partner. How could that man know what had happened unless he was there? At any rate, Cabelite rather didn't care. The Negaverse was closed to him, an appearance there little better than a death sentence. Beryl had a long memory, after all, and he doubted even bringing her a copious amount of energy would appease her. Of course, if Tinkerer was right, Beryl didn't exist anymore. Cabelite was here, in this place, and he had a plan. This was good enough for him. 

Their plans were proceeding forward, with little hitches along the way. Aside from the Super Youma project, the Tinkerer was trying to train youma in the use of simple technology. The only success in that area to date had been in arming Youma, but was mixed at best. Most were capable of summoning a blast attack as it was, and so didn't care, and those who couldn't did not seem to comprehend the idea of pointing the weapon at the ENEMY. Undaunted, Tinkerer was trying something new. A number of spyders had been converted to act as remote units. These spyders were more heavily armed because most of their internal processing and sensors had been removed. Instead, they would be controlled by youma using various verbal commands and a set of strange gloves and goggles. In practice, this seemed to be working, unless the youma got excited An excited youma tended to trash the control units. Tonight they would put this new possibility to the test. Cabelite saw this test as a perfect chance to eliminate one or both of those that opposed him. He would attack tonight, out of pattern, at a place with most people he could find. This would be sure to attract either the scouts or the Star Ranger. If the Star Ranger appeared, the youma would strike from hiding and destroy him. But if the Scouts appeared instead, the spyders would be sent in to destroy them while his youma remained safe. It was, he felt, his most diabolical plan since he had arrived in this place. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Micheal Thunders stopped for a moment in his preparations for going out and looked at the display on the screen. On one side was a picture of Serena Tsukino, and the other a digitally enhanced picture of Sailor Moon. While the facial features were not very clear, FRED felt it was obvious from everything else. 

"OK, I'll admit that they do look awful alike. That doesn't prove a darn thing FRED. There must be thousands of girls in this town who would match up." He decided, then returned his attention to getting dressed. 

"Maybe, but the biggest clue is her hairstyle. I've taken a sample. I've monitored every crowd shot in print and on television for the past two weeks. I've sampled over ten thousand different people. No one but Serena Tsukino and Sailor Moon wear their hair like that. No one." 

"A sample does not always represent the entire population FRED," Micheal retorted. 

"Its close enough for statistical modeling, and you know it. No one else in Tokyo wears their hair like that," FRED replied, continuing to try and drive the point home. 

"Oh come on FRED. Your sample must be skewed somehow. The odds of only one person in Tokyo wearing her hair that way is ridiculous. And the odds of that person also being one of the two students I work most closely with..." 

"Are a lot less than you think," FRED interrupted. "One of the other things I have found out while I was investigating was that odds here are much different. Its taken a while, but I think I know why. Apparently, when Queen Serenity banished the Negaverse after the destruction of the Moon Kingdom, she sealed up this planets magic sources. There is a huge one here, under Juuban, and after all these years the pressure on the seal is causing it to start to leak. And that leak has created a zone of skewed probabilities. This means that if anything weird is going to happen, its generally happen here, in Tokyo in general and in Juuban in specific," FRED claimed. 

Micheal looked at Fred's apartment terminal, his tolerance for acceptance clearly exceeded. "Well, congratulations FRED. You've just figured out why Godzilla always flattens Tokyo. I am going to go and pick up Patricia, and we are going to go out, and I don't want to hear a word about this for the rest of the weekend, GOT IT?" Fred's response was a silent acceptance. "Good." The way Micheal slammed the door, FRED decided this was going to take yet a bit more convincing. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Patricia snuggled into Micheal's arm. Granted, this American movie wasn't quite up to her standards for a romantic evening, still, Micheal seemed to be enjoying a taste of his homeland. Most people clung to the myth of "Juuban Syndrome." She knew better, having been attacked herself several times in the past. Still, one didn't admit to such a thing in public if you didn't want a long stay in a room with padded walls. She had been nervous for a moment at first, because of the size of the crowds, but she told herself she was just being foolish. The creatures that were attacking Juuban now were making their attacks during the day, not at night. 

Micheal had waited until the end of the credits before heading for the exit. The only other people in the theater were a group of five girls, arguing loudly as they made their way out of the theater. Patricia recognized one voice in particular and winced. 

Micheal noticed it to, obviously, because he rolled his eyes at the ceiling and muttered something about Godzilla. "Good evening, Ms. Tsukino, ladies," he commented as they caught up with the slow moving girls. 

"Eep," was Serena's first comment as she realized who was behind them. "Good evening Thunders-sensei!" she stammered, sweatdropping as she worried what she was going to say when he asked about her homework. 

Fortunately, he turned his attention to Amy, instead. "I see Ms. Tsukino finally got you to relax a bit, Ms. Mizuno," Micheal noted. 

"It wasn't easy," Lita broke in. "I had to hide the book she brought with her." At this comment, Amy began blushing furiously. Micheal only noticed this peripherally, as his attention turned instead to the feeling of a steady glare, coming from the raven haired girl with a decided preference for red. It only took a moment to recognize her as well. 

"Ms. Hino, isn't it? I believe you answered my questions at the shrine a few weeks ago?" Raye acknowledged this with a curt nod. As Micheal began to turn his attention to the other blonde in the group, the sound of screaming began to drift in from the lobby. "Uh oh... that does NOT sound good," he declared out loud and began shepherding everyone towards a emergency exit. The five scouts looked at each other, but allowed themselves to be herded out the emergency exit rather than jeopardize their scout identities. 

After reaching the outside, and relative safety, Micheal pointed the direction to the bus stop to the girls, while he lead Patricia in the other direction. Once out of sight of each other, the scouts transformed and leapt to the roof of the theater. After a moment, Micheal sent Patricia ahead to his car, while he ducked back around a corner, claming to want to make sure the girls got to safety. Instead, he shimmered into his Star Ranger form and snack through the deserted theater towards the lobby. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

A roof access hatch allowed the scouts to quickly make their way down into the projection booth, and from there into the lobby. No-one was surprised by the discovery of a group of youma surrounding a large group of people, obviously taking their time about draining them, enjoying the look of panic on the faces of their victims. So intent were they on their task, they didn't notice the scouts until they had leapt to the top of the refreshment counter. 

"The theater is a place to forget the real world's problems!" shouted Sailor Moon. "For denying these people that escape I will not forgive you. In the name of the Moon..." 

"With the fire of Mars..." 

"The storms of Jupiter..." 

"The ice of Mercury..." 

"And of light of Venus..." 

"WE Will Punish you!!!" the scouts concluded as one, to a lobby suddenly empty of youma. 

"HUH????" wondered a very puzzled Sailor Moon. 

"This is not good," declared Venus. 

"I have a very bad feeling about this", concurred Jupiter, unintentionally mimicking a line from the movie they had just seen. 

Mercury didn't bother commenting, instead activating her visor to find the trap that was surely here. A trap which closed itself even before she could begin to interpret the results of her scan. From above them came metallic skittering noises and energy blasts began raining down at the scouts. 

"Scatter!" urged Mars, as the scouts leapt away a split second before the blasts tore into the refreshments counter in a huge explosion of popcorn and boxed candies. 

"Mercury Bubbles Blast!" Mercury commanded at the top of her leap, filling the lobby with magical mist and covering the scouts landings. Energy bolts continued to blast through the mists, seeking but not finding the scouts. Something for which to be grateful, as both Sailor's Venus and Moon slipped while landing on the refreshment strewn floor. Sailor Moon appeared upset over the wanton distruction of food, while Venus was more unhappy about it getting all over her. Mercury continued to scan their opponents while the scouts gathered by her to discuss their strategy. 

"Trouble," she warned the gathered group. 

"Spyders?" Mars asked, based on a bad feeling she had. Mercury nodded in affirmation. 

"I'm really starting to hate those spyders", grumbled Jupiter. 

"They've moved to take up positions in front of all the doors," Mercury warned. "As soon as the fog gives out we'll be caught in a cross-fire." 

"What if we pick the door with the least defenders and hit it with everything at once?" suggested Jupiter. 

"It wont work," decided Mercury. "These things are designed to be able to withstand our powers." 

"This is definitely NOT good," grumbled Mina. 

Sailor Moon tried to put up a brave outer face, but inside, she worried. 'Tuxedo Mask, My love... Where are you? We need you!' 

* * * * * * * * * 

Star Ranger moved quickly thought the darkened theater, his night vision system making the dim light as clear as noon. Approaching the lobby doors, he cranked up his hearing to maximum, and noted the metallic skittering noises associated with Tinkerer's spyders. 

<> 

>>All sensors on-line. Multiple detection's.<< >>Target match: Spyders. Threat: Moderate.<< >>!!!WARNING!!! MAJOR THREAT DETECTED BEARING 210r!!!<<

A barrage of roses flew at Star Ranger. He dove out of the way, but was not fast enough to avoid them all. Three of the thrown flowers struck his right arm and penetrated his armored hide, much to his amazement. Anticipating a second barrage, Star Ranger dove into the cover of the theater seats. "Star Shield Summons," he whispered, shocked at how easily Tuxedo Mask's roses could penetrate armor that easily turned aside fifty caliber machine gun shells. He plucked the roses out, even as a fresh warning blazed through his head. 

>>!!! Threat Axis now 160r !!!<<

Star Ranger leapt again, in a turning twisting motion that brought the Star Shield between he and Tuxedo Mask. This time it was Tuxedo Mask's turn to be surprised, as the Star Shield deflected the barrage of roses with a chorus of sharp pings. "Hold, Endymiond of Earth," Star Ranger shouted, hoping desperately to startle the man enough to parlay. 

Tuxedo Mask was indeed startled at hearing his name from the Silver Millennium. He readied another barrage of roses, but spoke instead of attacking. "How do you know that name?" he demanded suspiciously. 

"Because I come as an ally, not an enemy! The one who brought me here told me about you so I could help!" 

"And why should I trust you?" retorted a still suspicious Tuxedo Mask. 

"Because I didn't kill you last time I met you for one, and I haven't attacked you yet this time for another!" Star Ranger parlayed desperately. "Dammit, we don't have time for an extended negotiation, man. Even as we speak your beloved is under attack by the forces I was brought here to stop! Another moment could mean her life!" Star made one last desperate gamble, in turning away from Tuxedo Mask and racing for the lobby doors, hoping FRED was right about longshot odds in this place. When Tuxedo Mask joined him at the doors rather than attack, Star decided that maybe FRED was on to something. 

"They are called Spyders," Star advised as they took up positions. "Aim for the eye like things or their leg joints. Its their weakest points." 

* * * * * * * * * 

Cabelite eyed the thinning mist and smiled. 'Soon, I will be rid of these meddling girls. Then I can dispose of the cripple, and the world will be mine.' He turned to his waiting minions. "When I give the signal, I want half of you to fire at the scouts, and the other half to fire over their heads a second later. They will leap to avoid the first attack and the second will eliminate them." Already he could see dark shapes at the center of the mist, and forced himself to wait a few more long seconds before commanding "NOW!" 

Even as the word flew from his lips, things went drastically wrong. At that same moment, one of the lobby doors burst open revealing two more combatants. "StarShieldSoar!" one gushed, and a golden streak flew from his arm across the lobby, intercepting the second blast, which was right on target to seriously harm the scouts. The battle quickly devolved into a state of confusion, as several of the spyders were suddenly thrown across the lobby and exploded in a shower of sparks. 

"NO!" Cabelite stormed. "Keep firing," he commanded of his troops with functioning spyders. "Kill them," he ordered the warriors who had their spyders destroyed. Instantly, they obeyed, leaping snarling at their opponents who had joined forces near one end of the lobby. 

"Uglies at 2 o'clock," warned Star Ranger. "You handle them, I'll finish the spyders!" 

"Right" agreed Sailor Moon without even thinking about it. The scouts went one way and Star Ranger went another, deflecting spyder blasts with the Star Shield while his own weapons took them out one by one. To the scouts surprise, the youma attacking them were much weaker than they expected, falling to the individual attacks rather than requiring Sailor Moon's Moon Scepter Elimination attack, though a few were eliminated that way as well. 

Cabelite was paralyzed by shock as his carefully prepared attack was eliminated to the last man. "NO!!!!" he screamed in outrage. "You may have won this battle, but I will emerge victorious!!" 

"Not if I can help it, Pilgrim", Star Ranger retorted in a perfect John Wayne imitation. 

"Then you will be the first to die, Tin Man," Cabelite screamed, and started blasting poorly aimed energy blasts in Star Ranger's general direction. 

"Ray's gone bye bye. What do you have left Egon?" Star Ranger taunted Cabelite with Bill Murray's voice as he effortlessly parried the few blasts that came close with the Star Shield. 

"Die, Damn you!!" Cabelite sobbed, almost intelligibly, his insanity showing in his voice, not noticing the scouts preparing a combined attack off to one side. 

"PLANET POWER" the scouts shouted as they unleashed their joint attack on the raving General. Something deep inside Cabelite warned him of the grave danger he was in, and the General gestured and a field of dark energy appeared between he and the scouts. The Planet attack slammed into the shield and everyone was blinded for a moment. When the glare faded, Cabelite still stood. He was covered in soot and his dark hair was in total disarray, but he still stood. 

"Anyone for diced scouts?" Cabelite mused as a large sword appeared in his grasp. 

"Ahh, I don't think so," Star interjected with Jimmy Stewart's voice. "Star Shield Soar!" he commanded as he made a throwing motion with his left arm. The black and gold circular shield flew from his arm, becoming a gold streak that headed away from Cabelite at an angle. 

"HA!! You ..." whatever it was Cabelite was about to say was lost when the Star Shield rebounded out of the far corner of the lobby and struck the back of his head with a gonging sound. Cabelite's eyes rolled up in his head and he pitched forward. Just as he was about to hit the ground, though, a shimmering circle appeared on the floor and the unconscious general tumbled through it. 

"Th th the, th th the, that's all folks," Star Porky Pigged as the Star Shield bounced off the ceiling and returned to his upraised arm, leaving the scouts victorious on the field of battle. With the menace gone, the scouts turned their attention to their rescuers. 

"I knew you would save me!" exulted Sailor Moon as she darted into Tuxedo Mask's arms. 

"Where did he go?" worried a puzzled Mercury. 

"I think I know, but I'm not sure," Star commented dejectedly. 

"Who are you really and why are you helping us?" demanded an irritated Mars. 

"An ally, brought here to help you against those, Princess Rei of Mars," Star Ranger replied, indicating the shattered hulks of the spyders. 

"Why, and how do you know so much about us?" Raye responded, slightly shocked to hear the mention of her Silver Millennium name. 

"A long story, and one there is no time for now," Star noted. "I must return to my companion before she grows suspicious about my absence. Meet me tommorow at 11am in the grove behind the shrine where we first met, and I will tell you what I know." 

"And why should we trust you?" Raye snapped, irritated by Star Ranger's condescending tone. 

"Because," Star Ranger replied, "If I were going to betray you I would have done it by now." With that, he passed through the doors to the theater and was gone. 

--------------------- 

Ah, the joys of Writers Block. Well, lets hope things pick up writing wise. 

Coming when I can finish it: Episode 8: Title to be determined. 


	10. The Truth is out There

Typical Header Stuff: 

Even though most of these give you about as much coverage as a g-string on a stripper, I'm going to play it safe and include it anyway... 

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all characters contained within this work are the copyright of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Kodansya, DiC, and probably lots of other big people I'm forgetting. I am using them without permission, but suing me because of it would be futile as I have nothing. Also Certain characters mentioned in the prologue are the copyrighted property of John De Chance. Any characters that are not copyrighted by other people are my own creation, and therefore copyrighted by myself... which means that if for some REALLY weird reason you decided you wanted to use them, (and why would you decide that?!?!?!?) you need to write me for permission. 

Comments, Criticisms, and flames welcome... Starrngr@aol.com However, due to a large amount of spam I have received in the past, I have blocked off mail from some domains. Sorry if your one of them. And don't expect me to reply to mail that's nothing but Flames! 

See the Character Bio for information on key people to this Fic.... 

---------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Author's Note: Given a title like this, you know who is going make a cameo. Don't worry though, its all you'll see of them. 

The Wanderer: Wandering Moon: Episode 8: The Truth is out there. 

Its a common scriptwriting clich‚ that the villain always returns to the scene of the crime. Ergo, one would assume that any semi intelligent thug capable of watching TV would never do so. 'Of course,' Micheal thought to himself as his flashlight probed the darkened lobby, 'Wazziz name looked neither sane nor very intelligent.' 

His feet made slight crunching noises as he moved through the spilled food. Then he stepped in a patch of Malt balls and went sprawling, his flashlight skittering across the floor before fetching up against the snack counter. The flashlight bulb broke with a small popping sound. 'RATS! Oh well, I guess I was doing this the hard way anyway,' he decided. He stood, and brushed crushed food off his coat before shimmering into Star Ranger. 

With his transformation completed, his enhanced sensors turned night into day inside the theater lobby. Even with their help, it took a some searching to find what he was looking for. The spyders had reacted abnormally in that last fight, and so he came back to see if he could figure out why. It was on the balcony over the lobby proper that he found one of the control boxes the youma had been using. "Hellllllooooo Nurse," he murmured as he picked it up. "What's a nice gizmo like you doing working for scum like this? Come with me, my dahlink, und tell me your secrets...." 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Tinkerer stopped for a moment outside the door to Cabelite's chambers and listened. All was quiet now, which seemed to be a good sign, so he entered. He looked at the general devastation in the room with a jaundiced eye. Just about everything in the room that was breakable and a few things that really weren't had been reduced to small fragments. "You know its going to take a while to replace all of this," he commented sarcastically. "So, are you ready to talk yet or should I send in some more breakable objects? You know, dishes, furniture, small buildings?" 

Cabelite glared at Tinkerer before throwing himself down on his bed, the only thing in the room that wasn't shattered or melted in some way. "NO, I'm not ready to talk. Now go away before I decide to see how breakable _YOU_ are." 

"That's too bad then. Because you need to know just how badly your misadventure has hurt us," Tinkerer replied in an icy tone. "An even dozen hard to build spyders, an equal number of your irreplaceable youma, and you were almost captured or killed. Worst of all, you may have caused the one thing that we couldn't afford. You have planted the seeds for an alliance between our enemies. Working alone, they were a minor worry at best. If they start working together they will be a major threat. No wonder your ex queen was about to terminate you for incompetence." 

With that, Tinkerer turned and strode from the room, moments before an energy blast slammed into the edge of the door, sending fragments flying. 

* * * * * * * * * 

Micheal slammed on his brakes, coming to a stop just inches from the two Americans who had started across the crosswalk, after looking the WRONG way. /Careful there, buddy,/ he called out the window in English to the startled pair. /Traffic moves on the wrong side of the road in this town./ The taller of the pair, a man with sandy brown hair waved in acknowledgment, and they hurried across the street. As Micheal drove off, he gave the couple a second glance in via his rear view mirror. 'Durn if he doesn't look like David Ducovony.' Micheal shrugged it off and went about his business. 

Behind him, Fox Mulder looked at the retreating car. /Hey, that looked like.../ 

Dana Scully cut off that line of thought. /I don't care who you think that was. Its bad enough you talked me into taking this vacation in Japan, your not going to drag me off on one of your wild goose chases, Mulder. Come on, the bus stop is over this way./ 

/But Scully../ 

/No, Mulder./ 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Micheal decided to leave Fred parked a block away from the shrine. After ducking into a convenient alley for a modicum of cover, he shimmered into his Star Ranger form and quickly made his way across the rooftops to the designated meeting place. He arrived in the clearing in the middle of the grove with about a minute to spare and chided himself for a moment about cutting it so close. 

A quick active sensor sweep detected several highly powered humans nearby and headed his way, and something in their midst sending a similar scanning sweep in his direction. This, he assumed, was the Sailor Scouts, with Sailor Mercury scanning ahead for traps. 

His assumption proved accurate when the five scouts moved out into the concealed glade. Sailor Moon's protector, Tuxedo Mask, also known as Prince Endymion of earth several thousand years ago, was absent though. A second quick sweep did not reveal him hiding in the trees, so Star Ranger assumed whoever Endymion was in this life was unable to attend. There were a pair of cats just out of sight, but Star Ranger didn't think them important. 

"O.K., We're here," declared a still suspicious Sailor Mars. "Now, how about that explanation." 

"And an explanation you shall have," replied Star Ranger. "However, could we discuss this in forms not so prone to massive destruction?" The flat looks given him by four of the five scouts clearly answered the question for him. "Very well. The situation clearly calls for a demonstration of trust to achieve detante." With that, Star Ranger shimmered through his transformation back into Micheal Thunders. The effect was startling, like a computer morph, only it happened right before their eyes. He lost several inches of height, his limbs and body becoming round and human looking before suddenly growing clothes. The boxy head of Star Ranger grew round, and his face appeared, in metallic tones, before becoming flesh, his hair and mustache growing to their familiar lengths before their eyes. The transformation completed, Micheal sat down on a felled tree trunk and resumed speaking. "From the lack of a look of total shock on your faces, I can only assume that I've slipped somehow in concealing my alternate identity. I was born Micheal Thunders, in Los Angeles California. But not any Los Angeles you would be familiar with. This Los Angeles exists in another dimension entirely. One where, about the year 1980, people began to exhibit abilities far beyond those of normal men...." 

* * * * * * * * * 

Tinkerer looked up from his worktable as Cabelite entered the laboratory. "If you're looking for something else to break, I suggest you look someplace else," the scientist sneered. 

"Control your tongue, cripple, or I will decide that its YOU who needs breaking," retorted the still angry general. 

"Brave words from someone who would be in the hands of the enemy were it not for my interference," noted Tinkerer in a sub zero tone as he crossed over to the large computer console that filled one wall of the laboratory and sat down. The metallic exoskeleton that supported his right side glittered coldly in the light. "If you have business, I would like to hear it. Otherwise, I have other more pressing matters to attend to." 

"I want the head of that tin man, cripple. I want it more than I want anything. I want that infuriating _THING_ in pieces at my feet. And you seem to be the only person who can help me with that, Tinkerer," Cabelite ground out through clenched teeth. 

An evil smile crossed Tinkerer's face at those words. "So nice of you to finally admit it. I think I know just you need." 

* * * * * * * * * 

Patricia Haruna climbed the steps to the Cherry Hill shrine almost mechanically. If one would have asked her directly, she would have claimed a cosmopolitan attitude that bordered on atheism. Yet, when she had something major to think about she often wound up here, at this shrine. She washed her hands and mouth as she passed under the Tori, ignoring the small booth that sold prayer strips, instead walking over to the alter at the front of the shrine. Placing her offering in the box, she rang the chimes that would attract the Kami's attention. 'Help me oh \Kami, guide my thoughts on this matter that troubles me,' she thought to herself, before making her way around to the sacred grove that lay behind the shrine proper. Finding a quiet spot near the edge of the grove, her thoughts turned inward to the problem that was troubling her, namely just what was it she really felt for Micheal Thunders. 

* * * * * * * * * 

"Well, you certainly have had an interesting life," a new voice added to the conversation, its Japanese spoken with a uniquely British accent. "Fighter Pilot, Scientist, Superhero, and Dimensional Wanderer. But it still doesn't explain what your doing here, and who gave you a file about our past." 

"I was just getting to that," replied Micheal absentmindedly, neither registering the fact that it was a new voice speaking nor looking to see who the voice belonged to. "You see, I wasn't alone in that explosion that threw me across the dimensional barrier. Also caught in the blast was the villain I was fighting at the time, a sociopath genius who called himself the Tinkerer. Apparently that same accident delivered him into this dimension. I was brought here to stop him, by the same mysterious person who gave me the file........" His voice trailed off into nothing as he realized that he had been having a conversation with a small black cat with a gold crescent moon on its forehead. His jaw dropped for a moment in surprise, and he toppled backwards off the log and landed flat on his back. Mercury took a few steps towards Micheal in alarm, but relaxed when she heard him declare, "Freaking Godzilla." 

Five scouts and two moon cats exchanged looks of confusion and concern as Micheal pulled himself back into his sitting position. "You would be Luna, Princess Serenity's advisor here on earth, correct?" Micheal asked of the black cat, who had been joined by a similarly marked white cat. Luna nodded agreement to the question, so Micheal continued. "Like I said, I was brought here. Someone changed the co-ordinates of a transit I was about to make and brought me here. They provided everything I needed to fit in, from documents to a file what was going on here. It told me who all of you used to be, and what your powers were, but not who you are now." 

"You mean you don't know who the scouts are in this life?" Luna demanded in disbelief. 

"I didn't, until just now, when you spoke up. Suddenly I made the connection," Micheal replied. "Your the one I stepped on that morning, right?" Luna nodded in silent shame, hanging her head. "Snooping is a bad habit, Luna, but I still apologize for stepping on your tail. But that would make You," he continued, pointing at Sailor Moon, "Serena Tsukino. Which means that Darien Chiba is Tuxedo Mask, Mercury would be Amy Mizuno, Jupiter is Lita Kino, Mars is Ms. Raye Hino of this shrine, and Venus is the blonde you were with last night to whom I never got the chance to be introduced to." 

"Mina Aino," Venus supplied, holding out her hand. "Nice to meet'cha." Micheal shook the proffered hand. 

Micheal opened his mouth to say something when his coat began beeping urgently. He rolled his eyes skyward as he fished what appeared to be an older model cellular phone out of an inside pocket of his overcoat. "What is it FRED?" he spoke into the phone. "Yeah, they're here... Yes, you were right, she is.... O.K., we're on it. Muck out. That was my assistant, FRED," he continued, putting the phone away. "According to his detection equipment, someone just opened a transit portal here on the shrine grounds. Which probably means Tinkerer has just sent troops to attack." 

Almost as if on cue, something began beeping on Mercury's person. Pulling out her pocket computer, Mercury summoned her visor, her own sensors confirming the visor. "He's right. I'm detecting several youma signatures, and another more powerful signature that's probably the person we fought last night." 

Micheal sighed for a moment as he got to his feet, A bit of Shakespeare springing to mind and lip; " Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more, Or close the wall up with our English dead! In peace there 's nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness and humility; But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Then imitate the action of the tiger: Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood. " 

This earned him a dirty look from the scouts, perhaps due to the reference to death, so he shrugged as he started running for the front courtyard of the temple. "Seemed appropriate to me," he noted to no one in particular. 

* * * * * * * * * 

Patricia's thoughts were disturbed by the distant sounds of screaming. An icy fist of fear gripped her, as she realized what the screaming must mean. Morbid curiosity overrode her desire to flee, and she moved quietly to the edge of the trees, in time to see the five scouts burst from another area of the grove and leap towards the roof of the shrine. Then her heart leapt into her throat as she saw Micheal burst from the same grove, following after. Unnoticed, across the space of three great strides, he transformed into Star Ranger before her eyes, his wings spreading from his back and the boosters on his back lifting him on a powered leap up and over the temple. The shock of all of this was just to great for her, and the fear, both for her safety and for Micheal's overwhelmed her, and she fled in panic for the deepest section of trees she could find. 

* * * * * * * * * 

Cabelite smiled at the chaos in forecourt of the shrine. Several of his best youma were enjoying themselves as they drained the shrinegoers Tinkerer's spyders had rounded up. Right now, thought, those same spyders were in hiding against the eventual arrival of those irritating sailor girls. These spyders were not remote controlled, but rather were programmed to attack the Sailor Scouts at all costs. Just in case that metallic menace Star Ranger also showed up, he had brought six of his more powerful youma, who were even now getting a fresh taste of power from the life force drained from the hapless shrine goers. These youma had been instructed quite carefully, and were to attack Star Ranger and only Star Ranger. With the Youma to keep Star Ranger from eliminating the spyders, and the spyders to keep the Scouts from attacking the Youma, he was certain that today would grant him victory. 

"STOP RIGHT THERE, NEGATRASH!" a familiar voice shouted from the top of the main shrine building. "Attacking a holy place not once but twice is totally disrespectful of the Kami that lives here. I am Sailor Moon..." 

"And we are the Sailor Scouts" the other joined in 

"And we will Punish you!" 

"Ah, the Scouts. Its about time you showed up. And where is that metallic menace of yours?" Cabelite taunted, but stopped as he suddenly ducked under the glowing streak of the Star Shield. 

"Warning: Assailants may be closer than they appear!" Star Ranger quipped with a Jim Carrey voice as he landed in the center of the forecourt, the star shield streaking back to his arm. Cabelite sneered and teleported himself to the top of the Tori that formed the entrance to the shrine. "Hey, do you want some breakfast or a little more of what you had last night?" Star Ranger taunted in Leonardo Di Caprio's voice. 

"I think I shall have myself some revenge, instead, tin man. ATTACK, my minions!" Cabelite shouted. 

At that command, the youma began charging Star Ranger, who jumped up and out of the way as the scouts jumped down to the attack. As the scouts began to attack, a swarm of Spyders emerged from the woods that lined the shrine and began firing on the scouts. 

>>Dreck, blech, barf, phooey, FELDERCARB!!<<

<> 

>>Grrr. Pulse cannon and Shockwave launchers to 100% power. Target: Spyders. Snapshot target procedures<<

<> 

Star Ranger rolled out of the way of the attack, ruining his attack on the spyders. The battle soon became a swirling draw, as attacks from the spyders forced the scouts to dodge before they could attack the youma and the youma kept Star Ranger from getting good shots at the Spyders. The tides of battle brought Star Ranger and Sailor Mercury back to back. "Houston, we have a problem," Star noted with Tom Hank's voice. 

"We need to even the odds," Mercury replied. "Can you keep everyone off of me for a moment?" 

Star's reply was action, as he managed to take out two attacking spyders while blocking a blast from a nearby youma with the Star Shield. "Mercury bubbles BLAST," Mercury commanded, taking advantage of the short break to fill the courtyard with a concealing fog. With its help, the scouts were able to avoid their attackers and regroup for a quick breather and emergency strategy session. Star Ranger's active sensors came on line and switched to a wire frame mode, allowing him to pierce their cover. 

"Can't we call a truce? I'm exhausted!" panted Sailor Moon. 

"They're not gonna do that, aint gonna happen," Star Ranger replied in George Bush's voice. 

"We need hit them now, while their distracted," interjected Jupiter. 

"You get the Uglies, I'll take out the Spyders," suggested Star Ranger before dropping into Pat Morita's voice. "Remember, Daniel-san. Best defense, Nooo be there." 

"Right. Lets do it, scouts!" agreed Sailor Moon, and the group broke up. Without anyone to distract his aim, Star Ranger was able to take out the spyders before they could zero in on the scouts, who were then free to blast the youma. What had been a bad situation for the scouts suddenly became a slaughter for their enemies. Spyders who were able to maneuver to get a clear attack at the scouts had their lasers blocked by the Star Shield, and were quickly crushed by the Shockwave Launcher or shorted out by the EMP fields of the Pulse cannon. The youma stumbled blindly through the mist, trying to find an opponent by sound, only to be torn apart by a combined attack by two or three scouts before Sailor Moon's Moon Scepter elimination reduced them to 'moondust'. 

* * * * * * * * * 

"NO!!!" Screamed Cabelite as the fog filled the courtyard and obscured his view. Everything had been going according to plan, but he was afraid of what this might do to disrupt it. He raised a hand to summon a spell that would blow the fog from the courtyard, when suddenly a searing pain erupted from it. He brought the offending hand to his face, and was shocked to observe a rose, its stem driven completely through his hand. Feeling the vibrations of someone landing on the Tori, he looked over to see Tuxedo Mask standing there, his cane out and at held like a sword. 

"Evil like yours is like a venomous snake." Tuxedo Mask declared. "It can be deadly, but its harmless once you cut off its head!" With that, Tuxedo Mask sprang forward, his cane slashing low. Cabelite jumped back out of the way of the slash, landing on the lower wall and summoning a whip of dark energy into being. 

"Do not forget that the head contains the fangs," Cabelite sneered, lashing out with his whip at the leaping Tuxedo Mask, only to have it cut into several segments by a spread of roses. The cut sections disintegrated as they fell, but the section still in Cabelite's hand grew until it was once more its original length. Even as he landed, Tuxedo Mask countered with a string of slashing blows, which though Cabelite was able to dodge or block, still forced Cabelite back along the top of the wall. Still the battle raged on, cane strikes deflected by the dark whip, and energy blasts shattered by thrown roses. Quarter was neither asked nor given. As the battle worked its way around to the middle of the back wall, Cabelite began to feel the first signs of fatigue. With Tuxedo Mask seemingly still going strong, Cabelite realized he needed an additional edge. Then he caught a glimpse of red below him, almost failing to dodge Tuxedo Masks blow while he was distracted. 

Grasping at what seemed his one chance, Cabelite fired off another energy blast aimed at Tuxedo Mask's head while his dark whip reached out and grabbed the hostage. Evan as he reeled his hostage in, Cabelite gave another powerful leap back and out of reach of Tuxedo Mask. Rather than jumping after the retreating general, Tuxedo Mask made a longer, lower angle leap, a spread of roses severing the whip holding the hostage, who landed in his arms. Cabelite snarled in aggravation of having his hostage rescued, but used the opportunity to escape. 

Patricia Haruna had been unaware of the battle above her, her thoughts caught up in a tangle of unresolved emotions and sudden shocks. Suddenly, a whip wrapped around her, pinning her arms and yanking her upward. A scream of terror was still forming on her lips as several red and green streaks flashed by her, and suddenly the bonds that held her fell away, causing even greater terror. Then she was suddenly being cradled in strong arms, Tuxedo Masks face looking down gently at her. 'He looks almost like Micheal, but his face is a touch more angular,' was her last conscious thought before the cumulative shocks overwhelmed her and dropped her into unconsciousness. 

--------------------------------------- 

Coming as soon as I can get it done: Episode 9: Breaking Point? 


	11. 11:Breaking Point

Typical Header Stuff: 

Even though most of these give you about as much coverage as a g-string on a stripper, I'm going to play it safe and include it anyway... 

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all characters contained within this work are the copyright of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Kodansya, DiC, and probably lots of other big people I'm forgetting. I am using them without permission, but suing me because of it would be futile as I have nothing. Also Certain characters mentioned in the prologue are the copyrighted property of John De Chance. Any characters that are not copyrighted by other people are my own creation, and therefore copyrighted by myself... which means that if for some REALLY weird reason you decided you wanted to use them, (and why would you decide that?!?!?!?) you need to write me for permission. 

Comments, Criticisms, and flames welcome... Starrngr@aol.com However, due to a large amount of spam I have received in the past, I have blocked off mail from some domains. Sorry if your one of them. And don't expect me to reply to mail that's nothing but Flames! 

See the Character Bio for information on key people to this Fic.... 

---------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The Wanderer: Wandering Moon: Episode 9: Breaking Point? 

Deep in the recesses of the human brain, monsters lurk. Not those of flesh and bone, such as are often seen of late in the Juuban district of Tokyo, but personal demons. In some ways these are even more deadly than those fought and defeated by Sailor Moon. In Patricia Haruna's case the demons were born of a sense of betrayal. So many men in her life has turned out to be bad for her, and now it was happening again. They now paraded before here eyes, all the men who dumped her, each becoming a monster who tried to kill her. She tried to run, but they pursued her. The streets of Tokyo surrounded her, but seemed strange, warped in some way. The ground become uneven under her feet, slowing her, allowing the monsters pursuing her to grow closer. Desperately looking around her, she spied an open door, and stumbled through it. She slammed it closed and locked it a heartbeat before the creatures reached her. 

Looking up, she saw that she was in the front room of her apartment. Then her attention turned in horror to the door, as the monsters began battering at it. Though the door appeared to be standing firm, she backed away from it in fear. She took three steps when she suddenly bumped into something, or rather someone. She spun around to see Micheal Thunders standing behind her. 

"Thank goodness your here!" she blurted, throwing her arms around him. "There are these awful THINGS chasing me!" 

"Hush," he consoled her. "Your safe now. I will keep you safe from them." Suddenly, his voce deepened and took on an evil overtone. "You belong to me now." Startled, Patricia pushed herself away from Micheal, only to have him grab her by the arms with an inhumanly strong grip as an evil laugh began deep in his throat. 

Helpless, Patricia watched in horror as Micheal began to change before her eyes, first taking on the form of Star Ranger, then that form mutating into a monstrous parody of itself. She felt the hands holding her arms become cold and metallic, then grow claws which dug painfully into her skin. His body sprouted horns and scales, while his face became first the boxy head unit of Star Ranger, but then developed a mouth full of razor sharp metallic fangs. She struggled harder to escape, but was held firm by those inhuman hands as that monstrous head moved down to her throat...... 

* * * * * * * * 

Micheal lifted the wet washcloth from Patricia's forehead and re-dampened it when suddenly Patricia screamed and sat up, eyes open. The Shoji to the outside slid open and five worried school girls looked in, unnoticed. Micheal instinctively tried to take her into his arms and comfort her, but she pulled away from him. 

"What's wrong? Are you OK??" Inquired a very confused and worried Micheal as Patricia got to her feet, her eyes flashing with anger. 

"Stay away from me, you MONSTER!!!" Patricia replied, backing away from him, her voice starting low, but increasing in both pitch and volume, causing the scouts to duck back out of view. 

"Bwhaaa?!?!? What are you talking about?" Micheal stammered. 

"YOU!!" She shouted, backing up and through the open shoji. "I saw you turn into one of those... those... those... _THINGS_ and chase the sailor scouts!!" Noting the change in flooring, she looked down and saw her shoes and purse. 

"You've got it all wrong, Patricia!" Protested Micheal as she stepped into her shoes. "You don't understand!" 

"I don't want to understand!! Just stay away from me!!" Patricia shouted in relpy as she grabbed her purse before fleeing the shrine grounds. 

"Boy, THAT went well," he noted to himself as the scouts entered the room now that Patricia was gone. 

"Don't worry Thunders-Kun," Mina chirped cheerfully. "After all, its only darkest just before it goes totally blank." At this, Micheal winced and sank back down into the chair he had been using while keeping an eye on Patricia. Serena, Raye and Lita sweat-dropped at the malapropism, with only Amy seemingly unaffected. 

"I don't think there is really anything to worry about, Sensei," Amy declared. "She is probably just frightened by what happened to her. I'm sure once she calms down she will be much easier to talk to." 

"Psychology, now, huh?" Micheal moaned, pulling the wet washcloth out of its bowl and wringing it out. "Is there anything you ARN'T taking advanced studies in, Ms. Mizuno?" 

"Yes. Boys." She replied in a matter of fact tone, causing Micheal to groan and place the wet washcloth on HIS head. 

"This isn't solving the problem at hand," snorted Raye. "We still have at least one enemy running around out there who we know little or nothing about. You said you know what is going on here, but you never got to that part of the explanation before we were interrupted." 

"Right." Sighed Micheal. "Apparently, there are two allied forces at work here. The first I mentioned briefly. He was known as the Tinkerer where I came from. A sociopathic genius bent on world domination. He was apparently brought here by the same blast that threw me elsewhere in the multiverse. My friends and I from back then were the only ones who had been able to stop him. He is the one who created that 'hole' you saw mister sanity fall into last night. He is also the one who designed those spyders you've had so much trouble dealing with." 

"But how is he able to control youma?" asked a puzzled Lita. 

"_HE_ doesn't, near as I can tell. That wasn't him you saw either. Apparently, after he arrived here he was able to construct a similar device to the one that sent him here. He used it to recruit a henchman from one of your enemies in the past to help him." 

"THAT"S who it is!!" declared Artemis suddenly. "When Beryl first attacked the earth, she had five generals. The first one to lead the attack was Cabelite, but he was removed when the attack stalled. He simply vanished, and we assumed Beryl had him executed for incompetence." 

"Well, now we know." Micheal pointed out. "Tinkerer brought him here. And it looks like their first move has been to try and eliminate the one group that could stop them." 

* * * * * * * * 

Cabelite stormed into Tinkerer's lab, his face reflecting the blinding anger within. "You LIED, You worthless cripple!!!" he roared at the top of his lungs, feral eyes seeking for Tinkerer. "Your plan failed and cost Irreplaceable youma!" Rage boiled in his veins, and only one thought consumed him, taking revenge on the one person he could... Tinkerer. 

Something glittered in the corner of his vision, but before he could see what it was, something inhumanly strong slammed against his head, Reeling in shock and pain, Cabelite turned to face the threat, only to be lifted from his feet as easily as a child lifts a rag doll. His vision cleared, and he looked down into the face of Tinkerer, effortlessly holding Cabelite by the front of his uniform with the metal framed arm Cabelite had always assumed was effectively useless. 

"So you failed again, Cabelite. The plan was sound, so if it failed its because of YOUR poor excuse for leadership." Tinkerer sneered back. "I saved you from certain death because I thought you might be useful to me. Don't make me change my mind." 

Cabelite's response was automatic. His right hand slipped behind his back and his dark whip began forming in it. Then there was the noise of heavy footsteps behind him and another inhumanly strong hand grasped the hand holding his dark whip. 

"Don't, Master," came a voice from behind him, a grating metallic tone like that of a hinge in desperate need of oil. At the same moment, Tinkerer released Cabelite and the negaverse general suddenly found himself suspended from his arm and spun around, with only his catlike flexibility saving him from a dislocated shoulder. 

The surprise of this broke Cabelite's concentration and the whip dissolved into nothingness as he looked up at the results of the Super Youma project. No low ranking youma was particularly good looking, but the results of Tinkerer's experiments turned even Cabelite's stomach. "It is a success, then?" Cabelite gasped, clearly not thinking coherently at the moment. 

The youma now stood over 8 feet tall, Cabelite noted abstractly from the fact that the youma's arm reached straight out from its shoulder and held Cabelite's wrist, yet the negaverse general's feet did not touch the ground. At one point the youma had possessed a basic human symmetry, but now stood twisted and crooked, the arm that now held him longer than the other and a misshapen hump on its back. Strange, asymmetrical lumps were present under putrid green scar tissue, and small metal points broke through the taunt gray green scaly skin in strange places. The hand that held Cabelite had the same sort of metal framing that Tinkerer wore, looking as if it had exploded out from under the youma's skin. One side of the youma's face was covered in a blank metal plate, a red glowing lens where an eye would be, and an occasional drop of emerald green ichor would form along the base of the faceplate before rolling down the protruding canine like jaw and drop onto its chest leaving a long green streak. 

"No. Your just hallucinating that your being held by your arm." Sneered Tinkerer sarcastically. "You can put him down now, Glitch, and that will be all for now." Glitch stood immobile for a long moment, then slowly nodded his head while making a harsh metallic sound muck like a piece of sheet metal being torn. Cabelite was gently lowered to the floor and the monstrous Glitch shambled away into the shadows. Cabelite straightened his uniform, ignoring the shooting pains from his shoulder so as not to show any further weakness. 

"He isn't really what I had expected," the general observed in a calculatedly neutral tone as the two walked back over to Tinkerer's large workstation. 

"I will confess that Glitch has not yet lived up to my expectations either," replied Tinkerer as he settled into his chair. "Sadly, he does not react quickly to the unexpected. Clearly, he will need supervision while in the field, so to speak. However, in normal situations, even in combat against our enemies, he will be an unstoppable force. He just needs to be pointed in the correct direction." 

"Why did you change his name, though? Morjida was a perfectly serviceable name, and it will cause confusion amongst my troops to hear him addressed differently, " Cabelite demanded. 

"It was in honor of the many problems he presented me in creating him, " replied Tinkerer, turning towards the large bank of monitor screens. "By the time I was finished, it stuck, and he answered to it. I doubt he even remembers that he had another name now." 

"Very well. I suppose it doesn't matter what he is called as long as his missions are successful. How soon can we convert the rest of my troops?" 

"Never, I'm afraid." 

"WHAT??" Raged Cabelite. "You all but promised me an Army of these super youma!" 

"That was before I knew what I know now. Of the remaining youma, there are 6 who match the profile for successful conversion. Even then, as many as half of them will not survive the process." 

"BAH. I would have been better off casting my fate to Beryl's tender mercies. Once she made a declaration, it was never changed. What good will a handful of these creatures do?" 

"Use your brain, if you ever had one in that dark hole on your shoulders. Each of these Youma will be as effective as a hundred if used correctly. Its a matter of quality, not quantity." lectured Tinkerer. 

"Very well then.", Cabelite conceded. "How long until you can complete your work?" 

"A week. No more. And then we will be able to sweep our opponents from the board." 

"Grand claims. Yet I seem to find that the distance between your claims and your realties grows larger with each passing day," Cabelite observed in disgust, turning his back on Tinkerer in contempt. "And lying low for a week will reduce our reserves of energy to nothing." 

"That is because your assumptions are faulty. Our forces are less than half of what we had at the start of this campaign. By suspending our operations we can last for two weeks or more and still have enough energy for at least one major attack with an acceptable safety margin," Tinker countered. 

"Perhaps, but we also entered this campaign with expectations of an easy victory, one which has so far eluded us." 

"That is because you have constantly under estimated our enemies. Every time you have faced them on what became their terms, and you wonder why you were defeated?" Tinkerer snorted. 

"Many of those plans that failed were yours. Don't talk to me of MY incompetence!!" 

"Believe what you will. I believe that continuing as you have before will only lead to defeat. You are playing to the enemies strengths, not their weaknesses. We need to change the rules of this game to something more in our favor." 

"And the new Youma will not do that?" Cabelite asked, a deadly undertone to his voice. 

"They should, but I prefer to deal in certainties. We must draw them into what Tsung Tsu called 'Deadly Terrain', force them to fight us on OUR terms, not theirs." 

"And how do you propose to do THAT, Cripple?" 

"We force them to come to us, trap them, and destroy them." 

* * * * * * * * * 

"Well, at least now we know where we stand," Declared Artemis. "Regardless of where these two came from, they've made Beryl's agenda their own, namely to take over the planet. They still need to be stopped, and it looks like we are the only ones who can." 

"I do suppose your right, but there is still one thing that worries me," conceded Luna. "Thunders-kun has mentioned an assistant that we've never met. Since it looks like the only way to defeat these people is to work together, shouldn't he be laying all his cards on the table? He also has never mentioned just HOW he jumps between these various places." 

Micheal sighed. '_THIS_ is going to be _SO_ much fun to explain.' Seven sets of eyes looked at him with expectation. "I would invite him to join us, but he really couldn't get in the room. In fact, Serena, Amy, and Lita have already met him. And all of you should have at least heard about him anyway, since I now assume both Luna and Darien have told you about what they saw in my apartment. FRED is the one who knows how to run the portal generator that will get me home eventually." 

"FRED is your computer?" Amy asked in confirmation, a distant look in her eyes. 

"Not exactly. He IS a computer, but he just uses the one in my apartment as a remote terminal to access various computer networks." Micheal gave Serena a knowing look. "He also figured out who Sailor Moon was long before I did, but I didn't believe him. He figured it out the morning we gave Serena a ride to school." 

"But there was no one in the car but US!" protested a very confused Serena. 

"Yes and No, Ms. Tsukino. He was there, you just didn't know it." 

"Your car!" Gasped Lita. "Fred is mounted in that big black monster car Thunders-sensei always drives!" 

"Like that Night warrior person they made that anime about?" asked Mina. 

"You mean Knight Rider", corrected Serena. 

Micheal shuddered at that statement, readily recognizing the reference. It the show seemed to be a common one between the two cultures, but Micheal had always thought of it as schlock. "I wouldn't say that, myself. There are quite a few major differences in design between the two. Besides, the show is fictional and FRED is real. He even has feelings, in his own way." 

"If FRED can move you between dimensions, why are you still here?" wondered Amy, her eyes suddenly focused again, looking as if she already knew the answer but wanted to confirm it. 

"Because Tinkerer changed the past, its created some sort of dimensional instability. The machine still exists, and is operational. It has skewed the sensors so badly FRED can't compute jump co-ordinates until we find that machine and shut it down. And even if I could leave, I wouldn't. Not until I make sure Tinkerer is no longer a danger." 

"Well then, how to we handle this problem?" asked Luna. 

"We have to figure out a way to track him down," Micheal sighed. "Until then, all we can do is wait and hope we will be able to counter his next move." 

------------ 

To be concluded... FINALLY!!! Coming by the end of the year: Episode 10: Loose Ends, and the Epilogue. What will happen between Patricia and Micheal? And will they figure out how to handle a Souped up Youma when they face it? 


	12. Loose Ends

Typical Header Stuff: 

Even though most of these give you about as much coverage as a g-string on a stripper, I'm going to play it safe and include it anyway... 

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all characters contained within this work are the copyright of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Kodansya, DiC, and probably lots of other big people I'm forgetting. I am using them without permission, but suing me because of it would be futile as I have nothing. Also Certain characters mentioned in the prologue are the copyrighted property of John De Chance. Any characters that are not copyrighted by other people are my own creation, and therefore copyrighted by myself... which means that if for some REALLY weird reason you decided you wanted to use them, (and why would you decide that?!?!?!?) you need to write me for permission. 

Comments, Criticisms, and flames welcome... Starrngr@aol.com However, due to a large amount of spam I have received in the past, I have blocked off mail from some domains. Sorry if your one of them. And don't expect me to reply to mail that's nothing but Flames! 

See the Character Bio for information on key people to this Fic.... 

---------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The Wanderer: Wandering Moon: Episode 10: Loose Ends. 

Serena Tsukino stole a surreptitious look at the clock and sighed. 'Oh man... still 45 minutes to go. I think I'm going to die of hunger before detention is over!'. She then directed her eyes back at the paper in front of her before Haruna sensei caught her. 'I hope Amy is right and she forgives Thunders sensei soon... Or I'm liable to have detention for the rest of my life. Its only Tuesday and already I'm stuck here for the rest of the week!' She fought off another sigh and tried to focus on the extra essay Haruna Sensei had made part of her detention. 'Why punctuality is important in school. Its not like I plan on being late, it's just I don't have any control over when the Negaverse attacks!'. 

She looked up only to see Ms. Haruna looking back at her with a cold look. "Ms. Tsukino, You will finish that essay before you leave, even if it means staying after your detention is over. Have I made myself clear?" Patricia Haruna declared in a tone that would make an iceberg seem like a tropical vacation. 

"Yes, Sensei." 

* * * * * * * * * * * 

Tinkerer noted the sound of the door to the lab being opened and turned his attention away from what he was doing. He swiveled his chair to face Cabelite as the other crossed over to where the scientist was working. "I hope this is important, Cabelite. I am quite busy, actually." 

"So you claim, but here you sit rather than working on what you said you were." 

"The work on the project is on schedule. At the moment, the subjects are recovering from the last procedure. It will be a bit before they are ready for the next step. In the meantime, I am being more productive than you are." 

"Bah. I can see the results of the training I am putting my Youma through. All I see here is you playing with those toys of yours." 

Tinkerer turned away from the General and back to the banks of computer monitors. "This is not a toy, you ignorant fool. This is perhaps the most powerful computer on the planet not under the control of a government. Without it, there would be no Super Youma project. And this 'toy' has just given us the key to defeating our enemies." 

"I've heard claims like this before, cripple. Spare me." 

"Much the way you spare that excuse of a brain from original thought, Cabelite. Do you remember the attack on that school?" 

"As much as I would like to forget it, yes." 

"And do you remember why it was I didn't consider that battle a loss?" Tinkerer continued to probe. 

"What I recall is that you expected that attack to eliminate one of our opponents or the other. Instead, I lost my only youma who worked well as a group," Cabelite replied with a sneer. 

"And yet that attack will give us our ultimate victory. Since you don't care to remember, I shall have to refresh your memory. From the fast response to that attack, it is most likely that Star Ranger works at that school. I am therefore attempting to access their records and see who has recently been hired." 

"And how will that help us? They probably hire people all the time!" 

"We know when that damnable Star Ranger probably arrived from the disturbance I detected in my instruments. It is a simple matter to look for anyone who was hired after that date. One of them is the one we seek. Once we know who it might be, we can set spyders to watch and see who he interacts with." 

"And what will that gain us?" 

"At the very least, a hostage. At the best, those irritating Sailors." Tinkerer was forced to pause as a beeping emanated from his workstation and several messages flashed on various monitors. "You'll need to leave now. Its time for the next procedure, and I don't want you contaminating it." 

* * * * * * * * * * * 

Micheal started himself out of a light stupor as the elevator chimed his floor. He picked up a carton under one arm and his briefcase and a bag of groceries with the other and started down the hall to his apartment. Three steps out of the elevator he blinked in shock and looked at the four sets of eyes looking back at him. 

"Sorry," he said to the waiting scouts. "I wasn't expecting company or I would have been back sooner." 

"Its okay," bubbled Mina happily as Micheal finished walking down the hall to the door to his apartment. "We actually just got here ourselves. Here, let me hold that for you," she commented, reaching for the large box that was threatening to fall from Micheal's grasp. 

"Why don't you let Amy take that," Lita interjected, noticing the 'Warning! Fragile Electronics!' label on the box, as she grabbed the bag of groceries that was also about to drop. Amy quickly moved in and took the box before Mina could. Micheal blinked in confusion, but made use of his now free arms to fish his keys out and open the door to the apartment. Curiosity was overridden by caution and he waved the girls into the apartment, carefully closing the door before asking any questions. 

Hanging up his hat and coat on the hooks in the entryway, he slipped out of his shoes before settling into the chair in front of his desk. "Now that we have some privacy, can I ask what brings you ladies here??" he asked of the girls, who shifted their feet uneasily before Amy spoke up. 

"I actually was hoping to talk with you and your computer," she said. "I was thinking that maybe between the three of us we could figure out a way to detect where the next attack will be." 

"But then why did you all come?" asked FRED from the remote terminal behind Micheal. At this comment all the girls blushed and sweat-dropped. Micheal instantly realized and turned to face the camera. 

"Proprieties, Baka. It wouldn't be proper for a student to show up alone. People might get the wrong idea and start talking," he explained while the girls blushed even more furiously. 

"Why don't I go put your groceries away while you three work?" Offered Lita as a way to break up the growing tension. 

"That's not really..." Micheal started to protest. 

"Oh, its no trouble at all. Amy is the one who you need to work with," Lita replied, cutting Micheal off and picking up the bag of groceries and heading into the kitchen. "This is way I'm not underfoot." 

Recognizing the inevitable, Micheal yielded. Fighting off the general state of lassitude that had come over him, he levered himself up out of the chair he was in and waived Amy over. "Have a seat Ms. Mizuno. Somehow I have a feeling this will be more efficient." Amy hesitated for a moment before seating herself and pulling out the Mercury computer In no time the she and FRED were deep in an esoteric conversation about sensor methods and readings. 

Mina had seated herself on his small love seat and was looking curiously at the large box he had brought home. Moving quickly, Micheal retrieved the box and carried it over to another desk by the door to the bedroom. 

"What is it?" Mina inquired innocently, following him over and looking at the collection of parts arrayed on the other desk. 

"Its going to be additional storage for FRED. He wants to be able to store a bunch of information he thinks will be useful." His attention was momentarily distracted by Raye's refection in the window. 

The priestess was quietly looking about, fidgeting uncomfortably. Micheal made a quick guess as to why and turned to catch her eye and pointed to the bathroom. Raye blushed slightly but moved in that direction with an expression of wordless thanks. When he turned back to the desk Mina was reaching out to pick up one of the components. "Please don't touch that. Its already been calibrated and I would prefer not to have to re-adjust it." 

Mina snatched back her hand, and looked at Micheal as he settled into the chair by that desk and rubbed his eyes. "Are you OK, Thunders-kun? Is there anything I can get you?" 

Micheal stifled a yawn. "Just running a bit low on get up and go, Ms. Aino. A cup of coffee would be nice. The coffee maker is in the kitchen. Just turn it on and wait." 

"Hot coffee, coming for you!" Mina gushed, and bounced off to the kitchen. Micheal sighed and picked up a part and put it in place. 

A few moments of quiet descended on the apartment, moments that were not to last. Just as Raye was exiting the bathroom, Lita's strangled voice emerged from the kitchen "Mina!! NO!!" This was followed by the sounds of an electric arc and a small explosion, and suddenly the power went out in the apartment. A thick cloud of black smoke poured out of the kitchen, followed by Lita and Mina. 

Moments later, everyone was out on Micheal's balcony, waiting for the smoke to clear out of his apartment, being greeted by a semi-surprised Darien. The girls chatted amiably with Darien across the space between the two balconies while Micheal just stared out into space with a dazed look and wondered what it was this fica had against his coffee maker. 

* * * * * * * * * * * 

Tinkerer looked at the monitor screen and smiled. 'So. Only one person has been hired recently at Juuban Junior High. Ha. I will have my revenge on you yet, Star Ranger! As Micheal Thunders, your going to reveal to me just what I need to know without even knowing your doing it!' His fingers flew across the keyboard before him and in the darkness several spyders stirred to life and scuttled off on their mission. 

He turned his attention to the five loosely draped shapes resting on tables in the lab. 'Six of them, and six augmented youma. Oh what a lovely bit of ironic symmetry that is.' 

* * * * * * * * * * * 

Patricia Haruna slumped in her favorite chair, thoroughly depressed. She stared out her window, absentmindedly twirling a half full wine glass in one hand as the radio played softly behind her. She had paid no real attention to the station it was on when she had turned it on. 

Then the sound of an old american song cut through her thoughts and sent them into a depressing turn. 'I know how you feel, sir,' she thought to the person who had written it. 'Its a Friday night and I don't have anyone either.' She took another sip of wine. 'What did I do in a past life to deserve this? Every man I've ever dated turned out to be bad for me in one way or another. Its just that Micheal turned out to be a more literal monster than most.' Something in her subconscious stirred at that, and tried to bring some fact to her attention, but failed. 'How could I have ever been so stupid? I should have realized something was different about him ever since that attack at the amusement park when he was one of the only ones who wasn't affected. I guess I should consider myself lucky, though. If I hadn't seen what I had at the shrine, I could have still been going out with him, and who knows what he had planned for me.' The radio played the station identification, labeling it as the United States Armed Forces Radio, and then went into another song by some person named Elvis something or other who was lamenting about his girl leaving him. Patricia stood and turned off the radio, not wanting to chance finding a station even MORE depressing than this one. 

She walked back over to the window, picking up her wineglass as she passed. She contemplated her reflection in the window, her body silhouetted against the night lights of Tokyo. 'And then he tried to apologize Monday morning like nothing had happened. I'm amazed that he would be so bold. If only there was some way of alerting the authorities without being considered for a room with padded walls.' Her subconscious tried to become more insistent, but was still ignored, for the moment. She finished off the glass of wine and turned to walk into the kitchen. 

As she was rinsing out the glass, her subconscious finally succeeded in getting her attention. The shock of her realization was great enough that she dropped the glass into the sink, where it shattered into many pieces, much as her notions had just been shattered. She had seen him intact, and unchanged, AFTER HAVING FOUGHT THE SCOUTS! And the scouts tended to leave nothing of their enemies behind for anyone to use as proof that anything had happened. Micheal had protested that she had the wrong idea... what if he was right? What if he had been working WITH the scouts instead of against them? 'It would explain a great many things... including the way he was so interested in learning what little I did know about the Sailor Scouts,' she admitted to herself. 

Her mind in even more turmoil than before, she blankly walked back to the living room and sat back down, unaware of her surroundings. 'If its true, I can't even blame him for not telling me... Its something I wouldn't have wanted to know! It would make me too much of a target for anyone wanting to use me to get to him... or who thought I might know who the Sailor Scouts are.' Images of Micheal being himself flashed before her mind's eye, starting with Micheal in his rented Tuxedo the night of their big dinner out, and ending with an image of a bemused Micheal gently correcting Serena Tsukino on yet another science concept she had gotten wrong. 'Maybe I did misjudge him. I suppose I can forgive him for keeping a secret, but at least he should have admitted that there were things about him I didn't WANT to know. Perhaps I will forgive him for that... but not for a few days more. I think it would do him good to fully understand the heartache his little secret has put me through.' Noting the time, she was surprised at the lateness of the hour and got up and made her way to her small bedroom. 'Tuesday.' She decided as she began to get ready for bed. 'I'll let him know I forgive him Tuesday. That should be long enough that he has a good idea of how much hurt his little secret has caused ME.' 

* * * * * * * * * * * 

Cabelite strode across the Laboratory to where Tinkerer was standing, watching something though a large glass window. On the other side, images made of light dance around, only to be trashed by the six survivors of the super youma project. A feral grin crossed his face as an illusionary Sailor Mars was gutted by one as she tried to paralyze it with one of her charms. The other Sailor Scouts were either dead, or dying, and only the image of that infuriating Star Ranger seemed unharmed. That lasted for perhaps ten seconds longer, as the six super youma attacked him from different directions at once. The Ranger's shield blocked the first two, but the third, coming from the side knocked it from his grasp, the remaining three attacks stunning the metallic figure and driving it to his knees. Before the enemy could recover, the six rushed it and dismembered it, pulling their foe literally limb from limb. 

A feral grin crept onto Cabelite's lips as he was forced to raise his opinion of Tinkerer a bit. 'This is so fitting... this cripple has created the tools that will ultimately destroy him when the time is right!' 

"Is everything in readiness?" Tinkerer inquired without taking his gaze from the window, where the six augmented youma were filing out. 

"I've done my part. Have you done yours?" Cabelite retorted. 

Tinkerer replied only with a dark angry glare. He turned away from the window and walked over to his workstation. Seating himself, he struck a few keys and the monitors filled with an assortment of images. Most showed red hared human of average height with a ridiculous bush of a mustache. Others showed an attractive red haired female. A collection of images on the bottom row showed the two of them together, in general the woman looking less than happy with the man's presence. 

"Micheal Thunders," Tinkerer noted, indicating the man. "A new teacher at Juuban Junior High. Was hired a few days after that disturbance I detected. The woman is Patricia Haruna, a fellow teacher. She is the one we want." 

"Why? If we know who this Star Ranger is, why don't we just eliminate him and be done with it? From these images, she doesn't seem to like him that much, why bother?" 

"Because of _this_," Tinkerer replied, putting a new set of images up that showed the two talking, then smiling, and the final image showing them embracing. "These images are only an hour or two old. Off hand, I would say that they had a fight of some sort and just made up. If we capture her, he will be compelled to try and rescue her, and enlist the scouts to aid him. They will walk into our trap, even if they suspect that it is a trap, and that will be the end of them." 

Cabelite looked at the woman again, recognition showing as he remembered the woman he had used to help him escape that last fight. 'They let me escape to keep this person safe. It looks like the cripple is more correct than he knows.' 

* * * * * * * * * * 

"If I'm late one more time Ms Haruna said she was going to suspend MEEEEEE!!!!" wailed Serena Tsukino to no one in particular as she tore down the sidewalk at top speed. It should be noted that this was not an uncommon occurrence, and those who lived along this particular street knew better than to be on the sidewalk at this time of day. Unfortunately, Micheal didn't live on this street and didn't know that he was about to walk right into the path of Hurricane Serena. 

Micheal had just emerged from a coffee shop with a take out cup of coffee when the inevitable occurred. "AIEIEIE!!! Look..." The two collided before Serena could finish wailing out a warning. Teacher and student impacted with a bone jarring thump, Serena's inertia driving both to the ground. The cup of coffee went flying out of Micheal's hands and hit the front wheel of his car, then tumbled into the gutter where the lid popped off and its contents drained away. 

"I'mSorryI'mSOrryI'mSorry!!!" Serena apologized profusely as she clambered back to her feet. Micheal, who had taken the brunt of the collision, winding up between Serena and the pavement, was slower to get to his feet. He held up a hand to gain a moment to speak. 

"Oy. I'm fine, Ms. Tsukino." He took a moment and caught his breath. "You really should try leaving a bit earlier and run less." Serena blushed deeply at the comment. "Ah well, come on, I'll give you a ride to school. Just let me find... my... coffee..." His words trailed off as his gaze fell on the battered and empty coffee container lying in the gutter. He whimpered softly under his breath. Pushing himself off from the wall he was leaning against, he walked over to FRED and held the door open. 

Serena climbed into the car and slid across make room for Michael. "Good Morning Fred!" she said. Fred just ignored her concentrating instead on razing Michael. 

"I thought you were getting some coffee" , the disembodied baritone of Fred noted as Micheal climbed into the car and prepared to pull out into traffic, with a great deal of sarcasm in it's voice. 

"Can you say 'pulled circuit board's' _FRED_?" Micheal replied tartly. Serena couldn't help but giggle at this exchange, which evoked memories of tongue fights with Raye. 

"Not right now... Transient detection! I believe I'm detecting a portal opening nearby... Wait one." Micheal's face grew grim at that news and the black HMMWV accelerated a bit more. "Confirmed. One of Tinkerer's portals just opened on the school grounds. Attempting locate the source." 

"Hang on, MS. Tsukino," Micheal warned as he cornered sharply, tires squealing. Serena's communicator began beeping, as if to further underscore the building tension, and Lita's face appeared on its tiny screen. 

"Amy is detecting a youma attack here at the school, Serena," the auburn hared scout warned. "Hurry!" 

"Ri-AIE-ght!" Serena responded, the middle syllable becoming a yelp of surprise as FRED hit a pump and briefly became airborne, and Serena was held fast by the seat belt as FRED skidded to a stop in the teachers parking lot. "Serena out," she finished weakly and all but fell as she climbed out of FRED. Micheal was a few steps in front of her, and already had keys out, and was quickly unlocking a door to one of the Janitor's closets. She followed him in. 

"We can transform here," he noted, and began to morph into his Star Ranger form. Seconds later, Star Ranger and Sailor Moon burst from the Janitor closet. Star Ranger pointed up and the pair leapt to the roof of the school. Sailor Moon activated her communicator. "I'm on the school roof, and I have Ranger-san with me. Where are you guys?" 

"I'm detecting several new signals. It looks like they have gathered in classroom 216, We're almost there now." Sailor Mercury reported. Sailor Moon and Star Ranger exchanged looks, Sailor Moon worried but Star Ranger's inhuman face unfathomable. 

"Have them go in through the door. We'll go in through the window," he said in a flat metallic voice as he scooped Sailor Moon up in his arms as wings snapped open on his back. 

* * * * * * * * * * * 

Patricia Haruna tried to control her fear, but failed. Not surprising when one is being held by a misshapen blue monstrosity that occasionally dripped an emerald green something she was afraid was like blood on her clothes. Taking a deep breath, she suddenly tried to pull out of the grasp of the monster and escape. The attempt failed, and resulted in the thing grabbing her other arm as well. A flash of pain caused her momentarily fear having her arms ripped out of their sockets as she to gasped in pain. 

The very human appearing leader of the monsters turned at that sound. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. You just might anger him and that could be very... Unpleasant for you. In spite of instructions to keep you intact." His attention returned to the front of the classroom, as the door burst open revealing two of the Sailor scouts while a window shattered admitting Sailor Moon and Star Ranger. "I wouldn't move if I were you, or your friend here," he nodded in the direction of Patricia, "will suffer for it." The creature that held Patricia tensed, and the pain from her shoulders caused Patricia to shriek and pass out. 

"I would suggest letting her go, unless you _WANT_ to be fitted for a coffin," Star Ranger warned in Clint Eastwood's voice. 

"Not on your life, Tin Man. If you try anything, Glitch here will tear her limb from limb," Cabelite replied haughtily. "If I were you I'd shut up and listen. Star Ranger growled animalisticly. "I'm listening. Talk already." 

"Its quite simple. You and the scouts show up at the Nadesco warehouse on pier 36 tonight at ten, and she goes free. Don't and she dies." Cabelite gestured, and a portal appeared behind him and his minions. "All of you, or the woman's life is forfeit." Without taking their eyes from their enemies, Cabelite and his troops moved backwards through the portal and vanished. 

"ARRRGH!" Raged STAR Ranger inarticulately, as he picked up a desk and threw it at the spot where the portal had been in frustration. 

"This is soo not good! Now what do we do?' Worried Sailor Moon. 

"We show up at the appointed time and kick their sorry tails!" Sailor Jupiter replied. 

"Even though its probably a trap?" interjected Sailor Mercury. 

"I don't think we have a choice about that," seethed Star Ranger, anger clearly showing through the metallic tones of his voice. "I think we are going to have to do what they want and try and keep them from double crossing us at the same time." 

"Mercury?" 

"Yes, Sailor Moon?" 

"Everyone saw the Youma and ran off right?" 

"Yes," Mercury replied, puzzled. 

"Cool!" Sailor Moon gushed. "No school today then!" 

Mercury and Jupiter face faulted while Star Ranger slapped his face with a hand in shock. 

* * * * * * * * * * * 

Micheal looked out across Tokyo bay and sighed. He absentmindedly reached for the cup of tea sitting on the small table next to him when an aristocratic voice spoke up in his ear. 

"Your worried about Haruna-san, aren't, you?" 

Micheal started, knocking the mug off the table where it shattered unnoticed. "Yea gods and little fishies, Luna! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" He sputtered, as the crescent moon marked cat jumped off the balcony railing and into his lap. "Anyway, what makes you think I'm worried?" he tried to comment nonchalantly. 

"The way you were behaving at the scout meeting for one, and the way I startled you just now for another," Luna replied. "You are an important part of our plan, and if your worn out from worry tonight it could get everyone killed. Then what happens to Haruna-san?" 

"Ok, maybe I am concerned, but wouldn't you be? The girls are, well... " 

"They seem to young for the responsibilities that have been thrust onto them?" 

"Yeah." 

"I wouldn't worry about the scouts. They've proved their up to the task before. Its you I'm worried about. I don't know if I can put your fears to rest, but I can at least lend a sympathetic ear." 

"Ok, Ok, you win, Luna. Besides, I guess I could use a little 'Fuzz Therapy' as Serena calls it, right now," Micheal conceded. Luna curled up in his lap and purred softly while Michael stroked her fur and the two conversed as the last bit of twilight faded away and lights began appearing out on the bay. 

-------------------------- 

I know, I know. I thought this was going to be the last chapter too... But there was so much left yet to happen that it became a two parter. I guess there is a strange cosmic symmetry to it, cause counting the prologue and Epilogue, there are 13 episodes... Just the same number as a mid season replacement on TV. 

Up next: Episode 11: Endgame. 


	13. Endgame

Typical Header Stuff: 

Even though most of these give you about as much coverage as a g-string on a stripper, I'm going to play it safe and include it anyway... 

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all characters contained within this work are the copyright of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Kodansya, DiC, and probably lots of other big people I'm forgetting. I am using them without permission, but suing me because of it would be futile as I have nothing. Also Certain characters mentioned in the prologue are the copyrighted property of John De Chance. Any characters that are not copyrighted by other people are my own creation, and therefore copyrighted by myself... which means that if for some REALLY weird reason you decided you wanted to use them, (and why would you decide that?!?!?!?) you need to write me for permission. 

Comments, Criticisms, and flames welcome... Starrngr@aol.com However, due to a large amount of spam I have received in the past, I have blocked off mail from some domains. Sorry if your one of them. And don't expect me to reply to mail that's nothing but Flames! 

See the Character Bio for information on key people to this Fic.... 

---------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The Wanderer: Wandering Moon: Episode 11: Endgame. 

On the darkened steps of the Cherry Hill temple four young women, two men, and a pair of cats waited for a late arrival. 

"I swear that Odango Atama would be late for her own funeral," grumped Raye as she checked her watch again. 

"Is that such a bad thing?" Micheal asked, reaching up to scratch Luna between the ears as she lay draped across the back of his neck. "I know I wouldn't mind having my funeral put off for as long as possible. Preferably by a great many years." This bit of levity earned him a shooting daggers glance from Raye. Fortunately, he was saved from her tart reply by Serena's arrival. 

"Sorry I'm Late," she wheezed. "But Sammy almost caught me sneaking out of my window and I had to distract him." 

"Not to worry," Artemis replied. "This time we planned your being late into the timetable. Are we ready to do this?" 

The four scouts gave Serena a pointed look. "What is it?" she demanded. "Is my blouse on inside out or something???" 

Micheal recognized the early warning signs of a fight and stepped in. "It really doesn't matter... we have to do this whether we want to or not. So, we'd best get moving, Right?" 

"Right!" the others replied as one. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

"What a dump." Sailor Venus observed, peeping around the corner at the Nadesco warehouse. 

"Don't let the outside fool you," Sailor Mercury replied looking up from her computer. "These readings show a lot of hidden machinery in there." 

"Its a trap. Definitely a trap," Star Ranger quipped in a perfect rainman impersonation. 

"Hasn't anyone ever told you how annoying that is?" snapped Mars. 

"No." 

"Well, it is." 

Star Ranger didn't reply, instead turning to look at Luna and Artemis. "Ok, you two. You know what to do, right?" 

Artemis also gave Star Ranger a dark look. "I don't think anyone will believe we're a pair of harmless strays if we wear these," he complained, indicating his headset and Luna's collar camera. 

"Then don't let anyone see you!" Star Ranger replied. This earned him a dirty look from the two cats before they used a stack of crates to leap up to the top of the warehouse and disappeared into the night. He ignored it and turned back to the scouts. 

"Show time," he noted, as his wings deployed from his back. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

"Well, well. The fools actually showed up," Cabelite noted as he looked over Tinkerer's shoulder. 

"I told you they would. This is why Evil will inevitably triumph over good if you persevere. The forces of good are idiots," Tinkerer replied. "Come, let us eliminate the only people who stand in our way." 

Cabelite nodded. 'And then I will have no further use for YOU,' both thought to themselves. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Outside, Five young women and two men stood in the deserted parking lot and waited. "We're here," Star Ranger announced. "We've kept our part of the agreement, now keep yours and let the woman go!" 

"Now, Now, Star Ranger," an oily voice noted from hidden speakers. "And give up my ace in the hole? I think not. However, since she apparently means so much to you, why don't you come inside and get her?" A section of the wall slid open revealing a corridor way while a bit of music in English blared over the speakers even as Star Ranger summoned his Star Shield. 

/Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. I'm glad you could attend, come inside, come inside./ 

"What's with the weird music?" Venus asked as they made their way through the doorway. 

"It's Tinkerer trying to be cute," Star Ranger replied. 

"Gee, I wonder who he learned THAT from," Mars retorted. 

"Ok, Maybe it IS irritating... That was sort of the point", Star Ranger admitted. 

"Would someone tell me what their talking about?" complained Sailor Moon. 

"Trust me, you don't really want to know," Sailor Mercury answered as the door slid shut behind them. The conversation was dropped as the seven instantly went on guard for the inevitable trap. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

"Well, he was certainly right about them not paying attention to the air ducts," Artemis complained to Luna. "These things are filthy. Mina is going to insist on giving me a bath when we get home." 

"We're here to find Haruna-sensei, you silly beast, not worry about needing a bath later. Now be quiet before someone hears you," Luna replied tartly, creeping towards another vent. Looking in, she waved her fellow moon cat over. 

"Sweet Tuna," Artemis gasped quietly, before whispering into his headset. "Furball to Four Wheels. Are you copying this?" 

"That's an affirmative, Furball," Fred replied over the headset. "I think your looking at the command center. Keep a sharp eye out... I expect them to be holding Patricia somewhere nearby." 

"Understood, Four Wheels. Furball out." 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Several small panels slid open in the ceiling ahead and behind the scouts, and small tubes slid out. "Everyone down!" Tuxedo Mask warned prompted by some sixth sense, as he launched a barrage of roses at the threat behind them. A split second later, laser beams lanced down at the scouts from ahead, but Star Ranger was able to block them with the Star Shield. 

"Mercury Bubbles FREEZE!", Mercury commanded, her attack clearing Star Ranger's head by millimeters. The icy blast struck the laser emitters ahead of them, instantly freezing and shattering them. 

"All right!" bubbled Sailor Moon. "At this rate, we'll be home in no time!" 

"Don't count on it," warned Star Ranger as the seven continued deeper into the building. "I think their just getting warmed up." 

* * * * * * * * * * 

"There she is!" noted Artemis as he looked through another air vent. "Now we just need to lead the scouts to her and we can get out of here!" 

"I think we have something more important to worry about at the moment," replied Luna. 

Artemis turned and saw a small spyder moving towards them through the air duct. "Ummm... Meow?" he tried, putting on his best cute and innocent little kitty expression. In response, the spyder revealed a razor sharp pincer where a mouth would be. 

"Its not buying it! Run!" Artemis observed as the two cats took off at a run through the air ducts. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

"Moon Scepter Elimination!" Sailor Moon cried, and the crescent shaped energy blast tore into another youma and reduced it to dust. She leaned up against Tuxedo mask and drew a long breath. "Can't we call a truce?" She complained. "I'm exhausted." 

"Courage, Sailor Moon," Tuxedo Mask replied. What ever other words of encouragement he was about to say were lost when suddenly the floor opened up beneath them and plunged the seven down into darkness. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

"Oh no! Its a Dead END!" Luna wailed as the two cats slid to a stop. They sat in a four way junction, but the other three ducts ended in air vents a few feet from where they stood. Behind them, the spyder entered the only way out and moved slowly closer, its pincer snapping ominously. 

"Did ya have to use the word Dead?" moaned Artemis as he turned to face the approaching robot. Luna looked around desperately for a way out, and saw that one of the screens closing up the vent was torn. The hole was too small for the two of them to get through, but just past it was a dangling electrical cable. 

"Keep it distracted," Luna ordered as she darted over to the vent and hooked the cable with her claws and began to pull. 

"HOW!!!!" Artemis demanded angrily. 

"I don't Care! Just keep it distracted!!" She replied, pulling desperately on the cable. 

"Riiiight," Artemis groaned, then turned his attention back to the approaching spyder. It lunged at him, and he began backing up slowly. "Look, cant we talk about this? Surely there's something you'd like better than to eat me? A Robot Cockroach maybe? Or a nice refreshing recharge?" The spyder simply maintained its implacable advance. Artemis felt the wire of an air vent behind him, preventing him from backing up any further. "This is going to hurt, isn't it?" He noted, but the only response was the spyder clicking its pincer. "I'm going to miss you, Mina," he sighed, closing his eyes as the spyder got ready to strike. He cringed back just a hair more as suddenly the sound of a loud electrical arc zapped nearby. 

He held that pose for a long moment before realizing that he had not been attacked. He opened his eyes and started in fright, because there was a razor sharp pincer on either side of his neck. The spyder was dead in its tracks, its glowing eyes dark, and thin tendrils of smoke whisping from every joint. Behind the spyder, Luna dropped the electrical cable from where she had jammed it up against the spyders body. 

"Don't Eat me??" She scolded her fellow moon cat as he extracted himself from the dead spyders grasp. "That's the best distraction you could come up with? Don't Eat me!?!?!" 

Artemis shrugged. "It worked didn't it?" 

* * * * * * * * * * 

"Venus, you need to go on a diet," Sailor Jupiter observed, pushing the blonde scout off from on top of her and standing up. 

"Ung," Venus replied groggily, sitting up and shaking her head to try and clear the cobwebs from it. "Did anyone get the license plate of that train?" 

"Now where are we?" complained Mars as Jupiter helped her to shaky feet. 

"I'm not sure," Mercury answered, her visor down and her computer out, "But I have a very bad feeling about this." 

"Sailor Moon, are you ok?" Tuxedo mask asked as he cradled her in his lap. 

"But mommy, I don wanna go to school today," Sailor Moon replied woosily, prompting Sailor Mars to roll her eyes with disgust. 

"Everyone, look out!" Mercury warned. 

"Star Shield SOAR!" Star Ranger shouted at the same time, the star shield becoming a golden streak that intercepted several energy blasts aimed at Sailor Moon that seemed to come from nowhere, while the scouts scattered to avoid the rest. 

Six doors had opened around the edge of the large round room the scouts were in, revealing six hideous amalgamations of misshapen flesh and machine. The creatures lunged into the room with an inhuman grace and speed towards the scouts. 

<> Star Ranger's other self warned as Sailor Mercury filled the room with her concealing fog. 

"Yeow!" Jupiter exclaimed as she barely got out of the way of another attack. "Something's wrong! They can still see us!" 

"Cover your ears!" Star Ranger shouted. 

>>Play sound byte CHAD-01A. Maximum Amplification and Distortion<<

<> A pair of speakers slid up from out of Star Ranger's shoulders and a blaring inhuman yodeling filled the room. Almost as one, the six creatures attacking them sank to their knees, holding their heads in pain and wailing inhumanely as parts of their bodies exploded in a shower of sparks. 

"And here I thought Chad's singing was useless," Sailor Mars observed once the noise stopped, massaging her ears. 

"Whatever they are, they are only stunned," Mercury advised. "They seem to be a mix of Youma and machine. Who knows what else they can do." 

"I don't know about the machine part, but I know how to handle the Youma part," Jupiter countered. "JUPITER THUNDER DRAGON!!!" The electrical attack arrowed across the room at the one creature who seemed least affected, but struck something unseen about a foot short of its target. A brilliant light show erupted for a moment as the electricity danced and crackled against something protecting the youma before fading away, leaving the youma unharmed, and the scouts in a state of shock. 

>>TARGET ANALISIS!!!!<<

<> Star Ranger took aim and fired a few laser blasts at the same youma, only to have his attacks bounce off of the force field as well. 

"They're protected by some kind of force field," Mercury reported, confirming what Star Ranger had already decided for himself. "We're powerless unless we can disable them." 

Star Ranger discarded his useless laser weapon and somehow drew a long sword from behind the Star Shield. An eight pointed star similar to the one on his shield adorned the junction of the blade and hilt, also forming the hand guard. "Sound like its time for a little dissection then. Keep the rest busy," he declared, his thrusters flaring and propelling him in an almost flat arc at the nearest Youma. 

The last of Mercury's concealing fog slowly dissipated, and the other five creatures charged in to attack, forcing the scouts to dodge wildly. Attack cries and inhuman snarls soon filled the room as the scouts fought desperately for time to find a solution. 

The Youma Star ranger selected was inhumanly quick, forcing Star Ranger back onto the defensive, at first barely able to defect its attacks. It wasn't until a chance 'Venus Meteor Shower' knocked another youma into its path causing both to stumble that Star Ranger got his chance. 

>>Discharge Pulse generator through Alternate!!<< he commanded, desperately lunging with the Star Sword. Off balance, the youma was unable to dodge the attack and the Star sword pierced into both monsters, catching them in the chest area. The Pulse launcher directed its charge through his arm and down the Star Sword into their bodies. There was an electric crackle, then an explosion which knocked Star Ranger backwards to the ground. 

Roaring with pain, the two damaged Youma crouched to leap at Star Ranger. "Evil Spirit BEGONE!" Mars shouted, desperately flinging two Ofuda at the creatures. The prayer strips actually struck the monsters and clung, paralyzing them. 

"Now, Sailor Moon!" Tuxedo Mask shouted, hurling a barrage of roses to distract one youma while he leapt to block a claw attack at her unprotected back from another. 

"Moon Scepter Elimination!" She cried, strain showing on her young face. The Crescent energy blast split into two smaller crescents and struck the two 'Super Youma'. Instead of simply disintegrating, however, the energy englobed the two, creating a sphere of light which pulsed wildly before exploding outward in a rain of ichor and metal fragments. The scouts paused and paled for a moment at this event, and momentum swung yet again, as Venus was knocked back and stunned by a blast from one of the remaining 'super youma'. In the same moment of shock, Mars received a painful gash to the leg, and Tuxedo Mask one to the shoulder as he knocked a stunned Sailor Moon out of the way of an attack. 

The fourth remaining monster leapt at Star Ranger, who barely escaped its disemboweling attack by firing his back thrusters. Thinking quickly, Mercury cast an 'Ice Bubbles Freeze' attack not at the monster, but at its projected landing point. The youma landed on the slick ice sheet and slid out of control across the floor until it hit the wall allowing Star Ranger to dive down and drive the Star sword through its chest as well. Again, the pulse launcher drive the EMP charge down the blade of the Star Sword, and another 'super youma' was left defenseless. 

Sailor Moon began her finishing attack but suddenly stopped, uncertain. "I'm not sure I can," she wailed. "the results are so Messy!" The wounded Youma got to its feet, only to be knocked back down by a 'Venus Meteor Shower'. 

"You must! Its your only hope," Luna's voice drifted faintly down from somewhere above. Still, there was a tear in here eye as she brought the number of opponents down to three. 

The tide of battle now was clearly in the scouts favor, as one by one the remaining 'Super Youma' were destroyed. 

"What have I done?" Sailor Moon sobbed, throwing herself into Tuxedo Mask's arms. "Those creatures looked like they were in such pain as they died!" 

"You did what you had to, My princess," he consoled gently. "like your mother before you when she gave her life to save us all from Beryl." 

"It wasn't your fault," Mercury agreed. "They died the way the did because of the machines that Tinkerer put in them. It was probably quite painful for them while they were alive as well. You set them free from that." 

"Maybe, but I doubt I will ever feel comfortable about this," Sailor Moon declared softly. 

"I never have, and I doubt I ever will," Star Ranger commented, landing softly next to her with a very dirty Luna and Artemis cradled in his arms. "Its that mindset that leads one down the path that Cabelite and Tinkerer have decided to follow. But for now, save the guilty feeling s for tomorrow. We still need to find Patricia and get her out of here." He looked down at Luna and Artemis. "You two CAN lead us to where she is, right?" 

"Of course we can," Luna assured him. "Unlike someone else around here, I never forget how to get to someplace I've been." she finished, giving Artemis a pointed look. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

"NO!!!!" Cabelite howled in inarticulate rage. "This cannot happen! Not here, Not now!!" He grabbed Tinkerer by the lapels of Tinkerer's jumpsuit and hauled the scientist from his chair. "I believed your promises, and I have gotten nothing!!" His eyes began to glow from within, filled with an evil red light. "I will have my revenge, starting with YOU!!" 

A series of sharp blows forced Cabelite to drop Tinkerer and forced the negaverse general back a few steps. Tinkerer sneered at him. "You never were anything but a tool to me, and clearly your usefulness is at an end. I shall enjoy this." Tinkerer raised his metal framed arm in front of his face and clenched his fist, causing three razor sharp blades to slide out of their housing in the exoskeleton. "Let's Rock." 

* * * * * * * * * * 

"This is it," Luna declared. "Haruna-Sensei is right behind this door." 

"This is an electronic lock, though," observed Mercury. "It could take quite some time to get it open, and I'm not sue we have it." 

"Allow me," Star Ranger interjected, and eight sets of eyes turned to look at him. Drawing back his fist, he drove his metal hand through the keypad of the lock and fumbled around inside for a moment. A loud click was heard, and the door swung open. Star Ranger looked at the skeptical looks everyone was giving him and shrugged. "What, like You've never used brute force to get in somewhere?" He asked. 

Patricia Haruna heard the door click open and tried to back further into the corner she was huddled in. When nothing happened after a long moment, she forced herself to look up right into the large blue eyes of Sailor Venus. "Its ok, Ma'am. We're the Sailor Scouts, and were here to get you out of here." A large smile slowly spread across Patricia's face as the reality of being rescued set it. Sailor Venus helped her to her feet and led her out into the hall. Upon seeing Star Ranger, she threw herself into his arms and started sobbing against his wide metal chest. 

"You came. You really came!!" she sobbed happily. She looked up at the square head looking down at her, instead seeing the face of the man deep inside. "Thank you." The Sailor scouts watched quietly from the side, tears of happiness trickling from the corners of their eyes. 

"Oooooh! This is just so romantic!" gushed Sailor Moon. Even Sailor Mars had no sarcastic comment for the moment. Suddenly the moment was broken by Star Ranger straightening up and cocking his head to one side as if listening intently. 

"No," he whispered, almost to himself. "NO!" he repeated in a louder tone. "It won't happen again! I won't let it!" 

"What's wrong?" Patricia asked worriedly. 

"Tinkerer. He's just done something very stupid, and I have to stop it!" Star Ranger exclaimed. 

"What? What did he do?" Patricia asked in confusion. 

"No time to explain, I have to stop him!" Star Ranger repeated. "Mercury, I need you to come with me... The rest of you get Patricia out of here!" 

"I'm coming with you," Sailor Moon declared firmly. Star Ranger gazed at her for a moment as if to argue, but seeing the steel in her gaze he found himself nodding acceptance. 

"All right, but the rest of you get out of here now!" he repeated, as he suddenly took off down the hallway at a run, Sailors Mercury and Moon right behind him. 

"This way, Haruna-san," Venus urged gently. "We'll keep you as safe as a mother with a baby in her arms." 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Star Ranger stopped for a second in an intersection and listened again before heading down another hallway. 

"Where are we going?" Sailor Moon asked panting for breath as she and Mercury followed him down the corridor. 

"Tinkerer's portal is starting to overload. Only this one is more powerful that the one that blew us across space and time. If it goes who knows what will happen!" Star Ranger explained, skidding to a stop before a heavy metal door. 

>>Shockwave Launcher to Maximum power, Override all safety protocols, and FIRE!!<< he commanded, bracing himself against the far wall. His left forearm pod whined briefly before letting out a low boom. An invisible wave of pressure slammed into the door, ringing it like a gong before blowing it off its mountings and into the lab proper. Inside was a scene seemingly straight out of hell. Most of the lights were out, leaving the room dimly light save for red flashing warning lights. Sparks flew from half destroyed pieced of electronic equipment and a caustic smoke clouded the air, carrying the pungent odor of burning insulation. Half a dozen sprinkler heads had activated, adding a thin drizzle and making the floor wet and slick. Near one wall, Cabelite and Tinkerer fought on, oblivious to the damage around them. And over it all, the climbing wail of turbines asked to perform beyond their design limits. 

Cabelite lashed out with his dark whip, but Tinkerer blocked the stroke with his right arm. He allowed it to wrap around his arm, but then suddenly grabbed the whip with both hands, catching the general unawares and pulling him from his feet. Another firm pull and Tinkerer was hauling Cabelite up by the front of his uniform. 

"You loose," Tinkerer sneered before throwing Cabelite into a panel of sparking electronics. The negaverse general spasmed briefly before collapsing limply to the floor. Tinkerer strode slowly and deliberately towards the unmoving Cabelite, the blades on the back of his hand making a sick ringing sound as they extended from their storage location. "And now you die," he said, raising his hand to deliver a killing blow that never fell. 

"It ends here, Tinkerer," Star Ranger said from behind, grasping Tinkerer's wrist and preventing him from delivering the killing blow. "Its all over. Stop this madness!" 

"Its NOT over!! IT WILL NEVER BE OVER!!" Tinkerer ranted, spinning to face Star Ranger and twisting his arm free before jumping back out of Star Ranger's reach. 

"Cant you hear?? That portal generator is about to blow! Don't get caught in a loop! Change what is happening here," Star Ranger pleaded desperately, but to no avail. 

"Then let it happen! It will be worth it to be rid of YOU!" Tinkerer raged insanely. He pointed at Star Ranger, and small components moves lightly on the exoskeleton on his right arm. Then Blast after blast of energy poured out from the exoskeleton arm at Star Ranger, who deflected them away from himself and Sailors Moon and Mercury, who had joined him where he stood over the unconscious Cabelite. 

"No! I wont let that happen here!" Star Ranger replied, and a burst of blue ball lightning burst from his right forearm pod. The EMP blast struck Tinkerer, and covered his exoskeleton in blue lightning as every component in it shorted out, leaving him pinned in place by its now immobile weight. 

"I've found the circuits you need!" Shouted mercury from behind him, pointing. A second blue ball shot across the room, shorting out other components. The screaming song of the generators changed pitch, but it was to late to totally avert the destruction. 

"I'm sorry," Star Ranger said, as the chain reaction explosions began rumbling though the building, growing closer. Sailor Moon smiled gently at him and raised her hands to her locket, which opened, revealing the glittering Imperial Silver Crystal. Her outline shimmered, suddenly taking on the form of Princess Serenity. She closed her eyes, and a soft beam of light lanced from the crystal to the Star Shield. It struck the Star Shield and shimmered, suddenly refracting into a golden globe encapsulating the four people just as the explosions reached them. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

The others had just reached the safety of the parking lot, when the first explosions began. 

"NO!" Tuxedo Mask exclaimed, turning to run back into the warehouse only to be restrained by the other scouts. 

"No, you can't! you'll be killed!" Jupiter warned, gripping him in a headlock. Then a great explosion tore through the warehouse, knocking everyone to their feet, violently shaking the ground for several long moments. The force of the shockwave threw Patricia and Venus, on whom Patricia had been leaning, in opposite directions. 

Patricia looked up from where she lay in time to see the warehouse consumed by a huge explosion that plucked at everyone's clothes. "No... " she whispered to herself in shock and denial, before fainting away. 

Once the shaking subsided and they were finally able to get back to heir feet, They looked at the remains of the warehouse in horror. The explosions had completely decimated the building, reducing it to a heap of rubble. Tuxedo Mask dropped wordlessly to his knees in fear, panic showing behind his mask. Just as suddenly he jumped to his feet, and darted into the wreckage, chased by Sailor Jupiter. 

Exultation filled Sailor Jupiter's heart as they reached the center of the wreckage, and a heap of the wreckage began moving, shifting, and eventually crumbled away from below to reveal Princess Serenity and the others still encased in that golden globe. Once clear of the wreckage, the bubble of golden light drifted at a stately pace over to where FRED and the others had gathered before settling to the ground and vanishing. 

----------------- 

Well, That's the end of most of this monster. There is still an epilogue, where a few more things get cleared up and resolved, but that won't be out for about a week and a half. (Cause I'm going on vacation for a week. I'll see ya'll on the flip side!) 


	14. Epilouge: Closing the Circle

Typical Header Stuff: 

Even though most of these give you about as much coverage as a g-string on a stripper, I'm going to play it safe and include it anyway... 

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all characters contained within this work are the copyright of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Kodansya, DiC, and probably lots of other big people I'm forgetting. I am using them without permission, but suing me because of it would be futile as I have nothing. Also Certain characters mentioned in the prologue are the copyrighted property of John De Chance. Any characters that are not copyrighted by other people are my own creation, and therefore copyrighted by myself... which means that if for some REALLY weird reason you decided you wanted to use them, (and why would you decide that?!?!?!?) you need to write me for permission. 

Comments, Criticisms, and flames welcome... Starrngr@aol.com However, due to a large amount of spam I have received in the past, I have blocked off mail from some domains. Sorry if your one of them. And don't expect me to reply to mail that's nothing but Flames! 

See the Character Bio for information on key people to this Fic.... 

---------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The Wanderer: Wandering Moon: Epilogue: Closing the Circle. 

Greatly relieved, the other scouts and Tuxedo Mask gathered around the spot where the golden bubble landed. As the bubble vanished, Princess Serena gave her friends a wan smile, then began to collapse. Tuxedo Mask quickly scooped the fainting moon princess up in his arms even as she reverted to all the way back to Serena Tsukino. 

"Is she..." Jupiter's question trailed off, afraid of the answer. 

"No, she is just worn out." Mercury replied as she scanned her friend, setting the scouts fears to rest. "A good night's rest and she'll be her normal self again." 

"Well, she has certainly earned it," Luna noted, jumping up onto Tuxedo Mask's shoulder. "Just when I'm convinced she will never take things seriously she goes and proves she really is her mothers daughter. Tuxedo Mask will get us home and get her into bed, won't you?" Tuxedo Mask nodded at that comment, and carried the sleeping Serena away into the night, to home and bed. 

"Where's Patricia?" Star Ranger asked, suddenly panicked, as he looked around. 

"Right here, Star Ranger," Mercury replied from where she had knelt next to the unconscious teacher, almost directly behind him. "She's fainted, but is otherwise all right." 

"What do we do with _HIM_?" Mars asked, indicating the still unconscious Cabelite. 

"Leave him here," Star Ranger replied as he gently picked Patricia Haruna up and carried her over to Fred's passenger door. "I'll take care of him." 

"Well then, Kemo Sabe, looks like our work here is done," declared Venus as she picked up Artemis. She wrinkled her nose at the smell of her pungent pet. "Whew... Soon as we get home, its into the bath with you!" 

"Aww, do I have to?" complained Artemis. 

"If you ever want to set foot in the house again you do," assured Venus. "It wont be so bad Artemis. I'll tell you what, though. I'll borrow mom's hair dryer so you don't have to go to bed wet." 

"OK," the cat agreed, before the impact of what Venus said sunk in. "Hair dryer??? WAIT!!! Lemme go!! Help!!! Nooooo..." Artemis' voice trailed off into the darkness as Venus firmly held on to a panicked Artemis by the scruff of his neck and took off over the rooftops. 

Star Ranger assumed his normal form once more as Patricia began to stir in the front seat of FRED. "Looks like she is coming around," he noted. "So, its probably time for you girls to go too. Especially if they decide to have school tomorrow." The three remaining scouts nodded in agreement and took off across the rooftops themselves, and Micheal turned back to check on Patricia, who sounded panicked in her half conscious state. 

"Shhh..." he consoled her, brushing her cheek and forehead with soft fingertips. Suddenly, her eyes popped open. She looked at Micheal for a long moment with a gaze of shock and amazement before suddenly wrapping him up in a tight hug and sobbing with joy on his shoulder. Micheal simply held her until the sobs stopped. 

"You're all right!" she observed breathlessly after a long moment, pulling back to gaze deeply into his eyes. "You're really all right! When that warehouse exploded I thought you were dead!" 

"As far as the world is concerned, he is," spoke a soft voice from behind them. Micheal twirled at this interruption, at first taking up a fighting stance but then relaxing as he took in the newcomer's appearance. 

The stranger was dressed in a fuku identical to the ones worn by the Sailor Scouts save for the colors. Her boots, skirt, collar and trim were black, while the bow on the front was a deep burgundy. She was also clearly older and more mature than the other scouts they had met, with the body of a young woman rather than that of a teen. Her long black hair had deep green highlights to it and her eyes were the same shade as the bow on her fuku, and she carried a staff that reminded Micheal of a very large key. 

"I don't believe we've been introduced," Michael observed in a calculatedly neutral tone. 

"I have many names. However, the only one of importance here is 'Para-Dr'." 

Micheal nodded his head in recognition of the name, the name of the person who had sent him critical information, and who he had come to assume was that of the person who had brought him here. "Then I have accomplished what you brought me here to do?" The fuku clad woman smiled gently and nodded in affirmation. "But what if I don't want to go?" 

"There are things that must happen in the future," she replied. "Things which you have no part in, and other things which you must do alone." 

"Couldn't he stay if he promised not to interfere?" Patricia asked plaintively, wrapping her arms around Micheal from behind and resting her head on his shoulder. 

The stranger smiled softly and slowly shook her head. "He could no more keep from interfering in that which is to come than you could give up teaching. It's one of the things that draws you to him, even if you didn't know that." 

"Then I am doomed to be alone for the rest of my life," Patricia sobbed, burying her head in Micheal's shoulder. 

"Perhaps not," the stranger noted. "But it will be five years before he can return. Are you willing to wait that long?" 

"For Micheal, I would wait until the end of my days," Patricia declared firmly, lifting her head from Micheal's shoulder to gaze steadily at the stranger, who nodded in agreement. 

"Very well. Tomorrow he must leave, and when the things that must happen have been accomplished, he can return, but not before," the stranger declared, tapping the ground with her staff, and the sound of a deep muted bell filled the air. The stranger then turned her attention away from the pair and walked over to where Cabelite lay moaning, about to awaken. Micheal quietly but firmly separated himself from Patricia and began to root about in FRED's back seat. 

"What are you going to do with him?" Patricia asked of the stranger as the stranger effortlessly picked up Cabelite and draped him over her shoulders in a 'fireman's carry'. 

"I will return him to right after the point in time where he left with Tinkerer," the stranger replied. "His mistress will take care of the rest." 

"Then it sounds like you are the one I should give this to," Micheal noted, climbing back out of FRED with a device the size and shape of an ostrich egg made of stainless steel. He tossed the message beacon to the stranger who nodded and did something with her hands and the device vanished into thin air. "You know what to do with it?" he asked, and the fuku clad stranger nodded in agreement. 

"Until we meet again," the stranger said by way of farewell. Her outline blurred, and she vanished before the pair's eyes. In the distance a siren could be heard approaching. Michael and Patricia took that as a hint and climbed into FRED and drove off into the night. 

"Micheal," Patricia asked softy, sliding up next to him on the front seat, "Would you stay with me tonight?" 

"BWAAA?!?!?!?!?" Micheal stuttered in shock and swerved wildly onto the sidewalk, nearly hitting a lamp post before FRED took over the driving and got them safely back into the traffic lanes. 

"I didn't mean _THAT_, Baka," Patricia teased, playfully slapping him on the shoulder. "But it is going to be a long time before I see you again, and I'd like to be held until you have to go." 

Micheal blushed, and realizing FRED was driving, looped his arm around Patricia and drew her close. "Yes, I think I would like that," he decided aloud. 

* * * * * * * * * 

The next afternoon, five slightly confused girls gathered in a back room at the Cherry Hill Temple. 

"Why couldn't they have canceled school today too?" sighed Serena as she rested her head on folded arms. "I'm still tired from last night." 

"I'm more interested in the fact that neither Thunders nor Haruna-sensei were at school today. Melvin the mouth claims Haruna-sensei called in sick this morning," Lita noted to Mina. 

"Say, you don't suppose they... " the blonde suddenly trailed off and started blushing furiously at what she had been about to say. 

"They are both consenting adults, so it wouldn't be any of our business if they had," Amy noted, looking up from her textbook. Her face took on a more sorrowful look and she looked back down at the open book as she continued. "But that's not what I learned. I was worried myself, so I did some checking while I was at computer class today. According to police reports, Thunders-Sensei is listed as having been killed in the explosion." Serena's head snapped up at that, and she looked at her friend in horror. Next to her, the teapot made a heavy clank as Raye dropped it in confusion. 

"But that's not possible. We KNOW he was OK, We _SAW_ him!" Protested Raye, vehemently shaking her head in denial. 

"Indeed, reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated, but necessary," a new voice interrupted from the doorway. 

"Thunders-SENSEI!!" Serena shouted happily, jumping up and hugging him so quickly one might almost think she teleported over to him. "Your all right!! But why do the police think you are dead?" 

"It will be better this way. I have to leave, and this way there are no loose ends. Its a 'Tonto, our work here is done' sort of thing," Micheal replied gently. 

"WHY?" Raye demanded angrily from where she sat. 

"I met the person who brought me here last night after you girls left," Micheal sighed. "She told me I must. There are still challenges you girls must face, and I am not part of them." 

"What about Haruna-sensei?" Lita asked with tears in her eyes. 

Micheal smiled. "I suppose I can give you that much of a clue. Just think of me as Ahhhnold, cause," and he then dropped into a horrible Austrian accent, "I'll be back." He was then swarmed by a gaggle of giggles as the girls crowded around for a goodbye hug. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

(Five years later...) 

Patricia Haruna looked down at Micheal's picture, and a single tear of despair slipped down her check. Behind her, a radio softly played Bryan Adams "Everything I do" in English. 

'I miss you so much, my love. Its been so long, and I fear that something has happened to keep you from me. Will you ever return?' 

She gently set the picture down and picked up the invitation that lay next to it., the invitation that had triggered this bout of melancholy. 

"You are cordially invited to the Wedding of Serena Tsukino and Darien Chiba", it read. Whenever she picked it up, this happened, her mixed feelings of happiness for a former student and sorrow in wondering when her joy of life would return. Sighing, she set the invitation back down on her dressing table and eyed herself critically. Her hair still retained its vibrant color, with no need of dyes, save for the occasional gray hair, but those were few and far between. The time spent at the health club had paid the most dividends, for she retained her trim figure, with only a bit more fullness at hip and bust revealing her slightly more advanced age. Her skin was still fair and soft, with only a handful of faint laugh and frown lines to betray the passage of time. 'I know he'll be able to remember me when he returns," she decided. 'I hope I will be able to recognize him when that happens.' 

Any further thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of her doorbell. Suppressing a momentary flash of irritation at having her reverie broken, she slipped on a robe over her chemise and went to answer the door. A check through the peephole showed a delivery person, carrying a bouquet of roses and wearing a black trenchcoat and a dirty faded red and beige cap pulled down to cover the upper part of his face. Patricia debated with herself for a moment before calling through the door. 

"Yes? What is it?" she asked. 

"Flower delivery for a Ms. Haruna," the delivery person replied. Patricia shook her head in amazement at how Japanese could be spoken with such a thick Cockney accent but still be understandable. 'Must be some out of work actor,' she decided, and opened the door. 

"I am she," she said, taking the bouquet. "Who is it from?" 

"Doesn't say, miss, but there is a card," the delivery person replied. 

Patricia gave the delivery person a look of indecision. "Wait right here," she decided. "I'll be right back." She then closed the door and walked over to her purse, taking the card from the bouquet as she did. Setting the flowers down, she opened the card and gasped. 

"Patricia, Will you marry me? Micheal." The card read. Patricia dropped the card and ran back to the door and flung it open. Kneeling there was the delivery person, his hat pushed back to reveal Micheal's familiar face. He too had changed, but not significantly. His skin now carried a deep tan, while faint lines around his eyes gave him a more mature appearance. He was down on one knee, and was holding out a small box covered in black velvet. The box was open to reveal a ring adorned with an eight pointed star, chips of ruby and emerald alternating at each point and a glittering diamond in the center. 

Patricia stood speechless for a long moment, tears of joy running freely down her cheeks, her hands clasped together over her heart. "Oh, Micheal!" she finally exclaimed, her breath still ragged. She reached out and drew him up to her and into a tight hug, her heart spilling over with joy. "Yes," she whispered gently into his ear as she held him tight, her voice still choked with emotion. "Yes, I will marry you." Micheal's only response was to free one arm long enough to gently shut the door behind them. 

John 3;16: "It is Finished" ------------ Whew... Well, that's the end of this story. And I will say it was a long strange trip for me writing it. I even had a bit of trouble here at the end, not of writers block, but of mixed emotions as I wrote this. I found myself unable to concentrate from a mix of excitement and... Well... dread. In some ways I didn't want this story to end, since writing it has been a major part of my life for the last 6? 9? Months or so. Still, all good things must come to an end, and its time to close the book on this one... For now anyway. 

OK, OK... I admit, this is not the end of the tales of the Wanderer in general, just this one. If your interested in finding out more about the Wanderer, stop by my web-site from time to time: HTTP://hometown.aol.com/Starrngr/index.htm or keep an eye open on the Fan Fiction Mailing List at Fanfic.Com. I'll post other stories in both those places, covering both events that happen during their five year separation, and perhaps even events later in their life. 

Until the next time then, Ja Ne!!! 

Star Ranger, Starrngr@aol.com. 


	15. Authors Notes

The Wanderer: Wandering Moons: Construction Notes 

Type: Author insertion... Sort of... Period: Sailor Moon R, between the departure of Ann/Allan and the arrival of the Dark Moon family. I.E. No outer senshi, no Reni/Chibi-Usa, Although Pluto will make a brief Cameo in prologue. Why then? Because this is intended to be a self contained story arc, and I've only seen the DIC episodes, which limits my options. I didn't dare place it anywhere else, because I wouldn't be familiar with the character development to that point, (especially concerning the Outer Senshi)and the only other place where there is a break in the story is between Day of Destiny and Ann/Alan's Arrival. And how could you write a story in that period without majorly disrupting the timeline since the girls don't remember a thing? We are talking a massive application of Jason McKesson's Stupid Card(tm) to make a story work in that time frame. 

New Allies: Micheal "Muck" Thunders, AKA Star Ranger F.R.E.D. 

New Enemies: Cabelite The Tinkerer 

Character Bios: Allies Micheal "Muck" Thunders, AKA "Star Ranger" Apparent age: Mid Twenties Physical Age: high Thirties Hair: Red Ht: 5'8" Eyes: Green Wt: 150# Complexion: Caucasian Birthdate:04/28/65 Astrological Sign: Taurus 

Historical Notes: American by Birth, Los Angeles CA. Accepted into Cal Tech, attended on Air Force ROTC Scholarship. Awarded BS in Computer Sciences. Served six years in U.S.A.F. as a pilot of A-10 II Thunderbolts, used call-sign "Muck." Left active service with rank of Captain (O-3). Returned to Cal Tech and earned an MS in Physics and a Ph.D. in Theoretical Mathematics. Landed a research grant into the study of teleportation. Pressured to prove his theories or loose funding, he demonstrated the technology on himself, teleporting into a lab where his supervisor was working on a robotic interplanetary probe. Micheal was merged with the robotic probe in an explosion that destroyed the lab and forced his resignation. Although normally dormant, in times of stress or when summoned, his body becomes that of the robotic probe. This form bears great (O.K., TOTAL) resemblance to the humanoid form of a Veritech fighter from the MACROSS series (VF-1S Super, for those familiar with that series). Sought out by a former instructor, he harnesses his destiny and, for the next year lives the life of a super-hero, and adopts the name "Star Ranger" as his super-hero identity. Tracking a mad scientist known as the Tinkerer to his lair, Muck discovers the Tinkerer's master plan; to take over the world by using a teleportation device to replace world leaders with robotic duplicates. In the battle with the Tinkerer, the controls to the teleportation device were damaged, causing the teleporter to self distruct, creating a dimensional breach through which Micheal and the Tinkerer both were drawn. Now adrift in space and time, he hops from dimension to dimension, his only traveling companion an artificial intelligence, hoping the next jump will be the one that takes him Home. 

Personality: Outwardly quiet and pensive, beneath his facade burns the soul of a hero. He has made many friends in his travels, yet prefers not to let them know how close they are, for in the end he must leave them behind when he jumps again. 

Powers: As Muck, A high intelligence and tremendous willpower. As Star Ranger: Armored body impervious to hand held weapons. Environmentally independent, from the cold of space to the boiling point of water. Heightened strength and agility. Star Shield: Capable of reflecting any attack Offensive capabilities: Chain Gun: Hand-held multi barreled rapid fire laser. Shockwave launcher: Left forearm pod, fires a telekinetic pulse capable of hurling a person through a wall. Pulse Cannon: Right Forearm pod, fires electro-magnetic pulses capable of disrupting any unshielded electronic circuit Star Sword: A magical sword that can cut through anything 

F.R.E.D. -- "Fantastically Ridiculous Electronic Device" An artificial intelligence created by Muck, Fred is Mucks traveling companion and assistant. Built into the refurbished body of a HMWWV, FRED is equipped with the sensors that tell him where they are in their travels. FRED also controls the portal generator that moves the pair between dimensions. Although armored against most man portable weapons, by no stretch of the imagination is FRED comparable to K.I.T.T. of Knight Rider fame. (No blasting through walls, weapons, etc...) 

ENEMIES: 

The Tinkerer: AKA James Doe Apparent age: Mid Thirties Hair: Brn Ht: 5'11" Eyes; Brn WT: 225# Complexion: Mediterranean Birthrate: Unknown 

A scientist from Muck's home universe, bent on global domination. When the controls to his teleportation device are destroyed, he too is hurled through the dimensional rift. Badly hurt by the blast, he arrives in SM's Tokyo, where first his energies are focused on survival. As he gathers what he needs to begin again, he becomes aware of the battle between SM and the Negaverse. When Sailor Mood defeats Beryl, Tinkerer realizes that SM will be a major threat to his plans, and he will require help. Remembering how his first teleportaion device became a dimensional portal, he builds a new type, specifically designed as a dimensional portal. Using this portal, he is able to bring Cabelite and his warriors from the past to the present. 

Cabelite: The first general during the negaverse's attack on earth at the end of the silver millennium, Cabelite was to report to Beryl concerning his slow progress against the earth, and it was generally believed that he was to be "demoted," when the Tinkerer opened the portal he created. Seeing a chance to avoid his fate, Cabelite agreed and brought the remains of his army through the portal to the present time. 

Authors Notes: These notes contain information that I thought might need clearing up. A lot of it could be spoilers, if you think about it, so I wouldn't read any farther until you've at least read the episode in question. 

Prologue: The scene between Pluto and Q is based on material put forward in Bill Harris' Sailor Trek FanFics, specifically, that they know each other, and that Pluto was one of the people who insisted that Q needed to learn some self control and humility. The characters mentioned in the scene of Muck's first planned jump are all from John De Chance's Castle Perilous books. Not exactly earth shaking reading, but I like them. 

Episode ONE: That's not really FRED on that desktop. The computer on the desktop is a standard computer Muck bought to provide FRED an interface with the Internet of SM's dimension. Consider it sort of a 'Remote Terminal'. Everything that makes FRED, well, FRED is still tucked safely away in the HMWWV body, he just uses that unit to give him access to a phone line and to keep track of what is going on in Muck's Apt. And he didn't say anything about the coffeepot because he thought Muck had already converted it to the right voltages. Or maybe someone just played the Stupid Card(tm) on the poor thing. 

Episode Two: If your wondering who the heck it was that Muck is conversing with, it's the CPU of the robot probe he merged with. And why did he pass out in the tunnel, only to awaken when the probe took over? As Muck, he is 99% human, and would be susceptible to the energy drain. As Star Ranger, he is 99% machine, and therefore was unaffected. Strange thing, magic, eh? What seems to work on creatures of flesh doesn't seem to work on 'Inanimate' objects. 

Episode Three: Why didn't the scout's powers work on those 'things' Tinkerer sent? Their robotic. See my notes from episode two for more detail. Basically, they were designed to be immune to the scouts' powers. Ergo, that's why Muck was 'conscripted' by Q, because his abilities were needed to neutralize Tinkerer's advantage. That's also why Star Rangers laser didn't hurt those Youma that much. Then why is Cabelite there? Because Tinkerer wasn't sure at first that his machines could beat the scouts. He also wanted a fall guy to do his dirty work while he conserved his strength. And why wouldn't Muck remind Lita of her Sempai? Everyone else does! 

Names: I kept the NA first names because they are easier to remember for me in plotting. I used the Japanese family names because it's the only one that has a complete set of last names. And Yes, I know that I should be putting the family names first, but I *AM* American... it makes it easier for me. If you don't like it, you didn't have to read it. 

Thanks: To all the fellow writers on the SMFFHQ mailing list. Reading your stories has helped me improve my own. And Jason McKesson, (member of said mailing list) for introducing me to the idea of the Stupid Card(tm) and showing how its use tends to disrupt an otherwise good storyline!!! 

Andrea Hui and 'Tuxedo Will' Wolfshohl, for their excellent archives of Sailor Moon fanfiction. Their archives provided not only the inspiration for starting into SM fan fiction, but also a lot of worthwhile insights into the characters. 

All the Authors who contributed to said two archives; but a special Emphasis on Wolfbyte, Chris Davies, Jendra, and Doug Helm, who I feel are shining examples of the best this genre has to offer. 

A Musical thanks to Albert Yao, who converted several pieces of Sailor Moon music into Real Audio format. In general, if I was spending time on this project, I was playing one of his conversions. And to the artists, whoever they were, who recorded those songs in the first place. 

And while last, by no means least, Naoko Takeuchi, for creating Sailor Moon in the first place. 


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